SPINNAKERS: Flying The Chute (Another View of Spinnakers)
By Dave Permar (T-165)
I think some Tanzer skippers go a
little too far in touting the virtues of the spinnaker. This talk can be
misleading to inexperienced sailors. Some points which I think should be made
arc as follows:
Most sailboat races are won
beating to windward. Despite the best efforts of such renowned spinnaker users
as Dave Gilbert, Jim Strickland, and Jess Coburn, I have never seen a Tanzer
beat to windward with a spinnaker up.
Spinnakers can only improve
performance when the wind is between five and fifteen knots. If the wind is
less than that, you are better off concentrating on weight distribution and
sitting still in the boat. If the wind is more than that, the boat is
overpowered with the spinnaker up.
Most of the spinnaker work is done
by the crew and in order to fly the spinnaker in a race, the crew must be at
least as skilled, and "gung-ho" as the skipper.
The spinnaker makes only a
marginal difference unless the use of the spinnaker makes planing possible when
planing could not be accomplished without the spinnaker.
The marginal improvement that a
spinnaker allows over a non-spinnaker boat frequently is lost during setup and
take down, especially if the setup or take down is less than perfect.
I am not particularly enamored
with the spinnaker, especially for racing. I consider it to be more suitable
for leisurely cruising. Moreover, I think it is important for beginning Tanzer
16 racers to know that a spinnaker is not necessary to win. Curt Elmer, one of
the founders of the Class Association, never owned a spinnaker and yet he was
Tanzer 16 Fleet Champion with the Carolina Sailing Club on more than one
occasion. I believe a new sailor should concentrate on windward performance
and not start thinking about using a spinnaker until he can consistently round
the windward mark with the top third of the fleet.