Sailing down wind with a cutter

[David VanDenburgh]

Another possibility is: Drop and furl the main. Fasten a block to the end of the main boom. Rig a line as a sheet from a cockpit winch, through that block, outboard of everything, to the clew of your larger headsail (genoa). Rig a preventer from the main boom to guy the main boom forward as far as it will go without chafing on the shrouds. Tighten the mainsheet to hold the main boom in this position. Set the headsail on that side - it is a pretty normal set except that the sheet runs through the block on the end of the boom. Set your other headsail as you normally would for sailing wind-and-wind with your whisker pole booming the sail out. You are now sailing downwind with two headsails, one sheeted off the end of the main boom and the other sheeted off the whisker pole.

John's twistle rig has a distinct advantage over this rig: it reduces rolling, doesn't endanger the main boom (which might dip hard into a sea if the boat rolls a lot), and makes an easier self-steering rig, but the one advantage of sheeting off the main boom is that you don't need two poles - (hopefully) you always have a main boom.

[slaume]

I like the simplicity of the head sail winged out on the main boom. We do this sometimes when we are not running directly down wind to set the jib out and keep it full. It never occurred to me to douse the main and use this arragement wing on wing. I have added a bail to the end of the staysail boom to rig a preventer on it too. It seems like I may have errored on it's placement as it is hard to find a lead forward that holds it in place. Anybody rig a preventer on the staysail boom? Is a boom end bail okay or should I have installed it mid boom? It may work better if I set it out as far as I can and then ease way off on the outhaul to let the staysail ease out the rest of the way. There is just so much to learn and but one short lifetime to do it in, Steve.

[Guest]

you don't need two poles

Hi, I'm new to this forum and came here via a link earlier in this thread to my twizzle rig site - http://www.simetric.co.uk/twizzle_rig/index.htm

I sailed last year from South Africa to Tobago and the twizzle rig worked well.

The two poles (simple ally tubes) also double up to spread the awning - a 'must have' in the tropics.

Two jibs sewn onto a common luff tape and rigged on a furling gear worked really well. A great advantage was the ability to reef by rolling up the jibs from the cockpit in 30+ knots - very safe.

It seems to help damp rolling but the motion is still pretty big and once an hour you seem to fall in a hole and no rig can stop that.

Nice looking craft, the Cape Dory.

[smacksman]

Sorry, thought I was logged in for the post above but wasn't

[Didereaux]

Excellent, just excellent site.

thanks

[Guest]

Hi John & All,

Just procured a 2nd Spinnaker pole in the hope of building a 'Twistle Yard' However, I'm a little unclear on the method of 'hinge' construction.

Do you have any elaborating instructions / guidance ?

Wet weather here for the last Fri thru next Sun. So, all the spars came off yesterday - have to wait for next year to 'Sea Trial' this arrangement

Fair Winds,
Leo MacDonald
Evening Light CD33 No.38
Pine Isl. Bay, Groton, CT

[John Vigor]

Hi John & All,

Just procured a 2nd Spinnaker pole in the hope of building a 'Twistle Yard' However, I'm a little unclear on the method of 'hinge' construction.

Do you have any elaborating instructions / guidance ?


Fair Winds,
Leo MacDonald
Evening Light CD33 No.38
Pine Isl. Bay, Groton, CT

Leo, I hate to sound like a cracked record (if you can remember what records were) but I'll say it once more: details with diagrams of the hinge and many other aspects of the twistle yard are in my book, "The Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat" (International Marine).

Hie thee hence to thine local library and charm the library lady into lending thee a copy for thine perusal and edification.

Cheers,

John Vigor

[Leo CD33]

Hi John,

I have your book. When I started reading it I went cover to cover over several evenings. The 'Twistle Yard' was of great interest to me. When I read this thread I had forgotten the specifics on the hinge - hence my question. Last night, after reading your response, I reread that section - Got It, thanks for the nudge

I was planning to use the current ships Spinnaker / Whisker poles w/o dedicating additional spars to this application, with a large shackle, etc. for the 'joint'.

It appears the 2nd pole I purchased (at ~10 ft) maybe too short. In the next week or so I'll do exacting measurements of E.L.'s sails. (And , if required, buy a longer pole.)

On your 31 ft boat (haven't read that book - yet) did you carry dedicated 'Twistle Yard' spars?

Fair Winds,
Leo MacDonald
S/V Evening Light
Pine Isl. Bay, Groton, CT

[John Vigor]

Hi John,

On your 31 ft boat (haven't read that book - yet) did you carry dedicated 'Twistle Yard' spars?

Fair Winds,
Leo MacDonald
S/V Evening Light
Pine Isl. Bay, Groton, CT

Hi Leo:

Yes, the poles were used for nothing other than the twin staysails. They could be separated, of course, by undoing the eye nut in the hinge, but we never found that necessary.

You may find it an advantage to stow the poles up and down the forward edge of the mast with a line running from the hinge to a fairlead or block on the mast to hold the top of the yard in place, and some restraining method for the foot of the poles. Then, when you want to set the sails, you can attach the clews to the ends of the poles while the poles are held still.

The design of the hinge is quite important for smooth operation. If you do it my way, it's a fairly expensive hinge, but it works perfectly.

John V.