Klaus,
I have faith you will get the warm and fuzzies one day as we have. Hang in there.
Regarding simplicity, this is the reason I have discussed running the tack line aft so that you can sinch the tack line down and then be free to go forward to release the pole. If using the pole you have to do a couple laps forward and aft to work everything out but it¹s one less line to worry about if your using it often.
The sail isn¹t for everyone but I think the hardest part is setting up for two spins, more or less using a lazy system. We did have to purchase 4 more blocks to help angle the guys better so they don¹t run up against the stansions at beam.
Steve
On 9/18/02 3:49 PM, "Schaefer, Klaus" <Klaus.Schaefer@mercer.com> wrote:
> Further to the discussion thread on asymmetrics, I guess I should 'fess up
> that I also have an A-spin. I've been a little disappointed with it, but I
> guess I haven't given it a fair test yet.
>
> I got the A-spin (North) for several reasons:
>
> 1. I do some single-handed racing. There are 5 point-to-point type races in
> the year. Four of them are about 25 miles long and the fifth is 100 miles
> long. For the simplicity of an A-spin (when you're single-handed) and the
> reaching potential (like Steve had in the Mac), I thought an A-spin would be a
> good addition. As it turns out, I was able to do only 2 of the 5 races this
> year, and neither had a reaching leg.
>
> 2. I participate in the Lake Ontario 300 every two years or so. Like the
> name says, a 300 mile race up and down the lake. Further, I participate in
> the double-handed division (this was the original concept of the race, but
> it's now been extended to fully crewed boats). For the same reasons as in #1,
> I thought an A-spin would be a good addition. As it turns out, this year's
> L/O 300 was sailed in awful conditions that prompted 25 of the 34 starters to
> retire. I was one of the quitters and didn't see any spinnaker action.
>
> 3. Our club racing is around a course of fixed marks and reaches are often
> very tight for a conventional spinnaker, so I though an A-spin would be a good
> addition. Unfortunately, the wind tends to be fluky, and legs that scope out
> as beam reaches pre-start turn out to be broad reaches when we get there, etc.
> The difficulty (for us) of switching between the two types of spinnakers
> during a race has made it impractical to use the A-spin for club races.
>
> 4. I think I got poor advice from North in one respect. I made it clear that
> I was looking for simplicity (esp. in light of the single- and double-handed
> racing) and that I would be flying the A-spin off the tack horn (essentially
> treating it like an advanced DRS). North didn't warn me to expect a big
> performance difference between doing that and using the pole. Based on my
> limited experience flying it off the tack horn, I'd have to guess that using
> the pole would lead to massively better performance. But this would defeat
> the simplicity angle for me. Catch 22!
>
> 5. Finally, I thought I would use the A-spin in some cruising situations.
> Currently, however, I don't do any cruising.
>
> As noted, the A-spin has been a disappointment in the short term, but I'm
> still hoping it proves useful in the longer term in some of the specialty
> situations I've described.
>
> Klaus Schaefer
> Jersey Girl
>
>> -----Original Message----- >> From: Steve Haislet [mailto:shaislet@speedsite.com] >> Sent: September 18, 2002 2:27 PM >> To: olson911 SailPix.com >> Subject: Re: Fore guy and tack line rigging&In-Reply-To=<000c01c25f10$7 >> 96e9180$47d... >>
>> I crewed on and drove an O'Day 27 with an asymmetrical kite this past season. >> The angles are weird and the mast head boats come roaring right down the >> middle. At one point I was not heading for the mark so we gibed the main and >> went wing on wing with no pole to get to the mark and then gibed onto a >> reach. We only had four people on the boat with little experience. I would >> say I would not go in that direction unless I was very short on crew. We >> normally carry 8 experienced people and sometimes race with 6. >> >> Rich Canning >> >> >>