How do you rig a Gennaker?

1) A spinnaker halyard that exits your mast above - or directly to the side of - the headstay.

2) Port and starboard spinnaker sheets that lead from the foredeck aft to turning blocks on the rail, just forward of the push pit, and then forward to winches.

3) A tack line that runs from the tack of the gennaker, through a turning block on the foredeck or anchor roller, and aft to a winch then to a stopper or cleat. The most common set up for the tack line is to position a snatch block on a robust part of the anchor platform forward of the pulpit.

There are a number of variations on the procedure for hoisting the gennaker, depending on how you store it. We recommend the following steps for hoisting the sail, (in this example the sail will be hoisted and flown on the port side of the boat)

Attaching the Gennaker:

1) Pack the gennaker in a spinnaker turtle bag with the tack corner at one end of the bag, the clew at the other end and the head in the middle. If you have a hoop or circular bag the best approach is to take the sail out of the bag and have some one hold the sail down until it can be hoisted.

2) Secure the bag to the center of the foredeck, with the tack end of the bag forward.

3) Bring the starboard sheet around the headstay and aft to the back of the bag. Clip it to the clew of the sail. Clip the port sheet to the clew.

4) Bring the tack line over the top of the starboard sheet and clip it to the tack of the sail.

5) Bring the halyard down on the port side of the headstay and clip it to the head of the sail. (Note: all lines should be run over the top of the headsail sheet, or all lines should be run under the headsail sheet. You cannot run some lines under the headsail sheet and some over it.)

Hoisting the Gennaker (using a snuffer/sock accessory):

1) Break open the bag.

2) Pull the tack line to bring the tack of the sail forward to the headstay, leaving about 2-5' of line between the sail and the block (depends on the luff length of your sail relative to the mast height.)

3) Raise the halyard to the top of the mast.

4) Tension the port sheet until the clew of the sail is about even with the mast.

5) Turn the boat onto a broad reaching angle and use the control lines to raise the snuffer.

6) With the snuffer fully hoisted and the sail full, pull both legs of the control lines tight and secure them on the dock cleat on your foredeck.

Dousing the Gennaker:

Reverse the hoisting procedure.

Blowing the Tack Line vs. Easing the Sheet:

You can blow the tack or ease the sheet to douse the sail and get good results. When you blow the tack for a take down you will also want to pull in the gennaker sheet to hold the clew close to the boat. This prevents the sail from getting away from you and the boat. To make this work you need a quick release snap shackle at the tack that can be "spiked" open with a marlinspike while under load. When you spike the tack shackle the pressure is completely released from the sail and the sail is blanketed behind the mainsail. It is an effective technique for getting the sail down in moderate or windy conditions. If you don't have this type of shackle rigged on your tack line, you would need to ease several feet of tack line to achieve the same results.

Another approach, the stronger the wind is, the more important it will be to relieve the sheet pressure on the gennaker before pulling the snuffer down. Keep the halyard and tack line in the normal sailing positions. Then try easing the sheet several feet until the sail starts to luff. Don't let the sheet go completely. If the sail is flogging when you ease the sheet, have the helmsman bear away from the wind to an angle where the breeze is coming across the windward corner of the transom - an apparent wind angle of about 160 degrees. That should blanket the spinnaker behind the mainsail so that there is very little pressure on it. When you bear off this far, it is important for the helmsman to keep an eye on the spinnaker in case it starts to wrap around the headstay before you can get the snuffer down. If the sail begins to blow through the foretriangle, the helmsman should steer towards the wind slightly to make the airflow through the foretriangle, blowing the gennaker back out to the leeward side of the boat.

When it is time to pull the snuffer down, you should be positioned in the middle of the foredeck, rather than at the base of the mast. By moving further forward, you are pulling from between the luff and leech edges of the sail so it is easier to collapse it. I prefer to sit down on the deck instead of standing up. Then, if I lose my balance, there is nowhere to fall!

If you try these techniques and find that it is still very difficult to pull the sock down, you may have a twist in the retrieval line. To check for a twist, take the sail and snuffer off the boat and lay it out straight on a lawn or porch. Feel the retrieval line inside the colored sleeve at the top. The line goes through a block on the inside of the sleeve and it can develop a twist if the block flops over. If you and a helper run the sleeve up and down a couple of times on the lawn you will be able to tell if it is hanging up from the friction of a twist.