This is our 28 year old spinnaker. It was given to us by a friend at the Grand River Sailing Center who has a 1967 Pearson Renegade named Evenly. Evenly's hull number can be seen on the spinnaker. In the summer of 1996 I flew this sail on a dead downwind run to Ashtabula, OH. We did a lot of surfing that day seeing the high side of 7 knots much of the time and occasionally hitting 8.5. We had the chute choked down with both the guy and the sheet led through blocks amidships. The boat was pretty easy to control once I got the hang of it. This shot was taken on the last good sail of the '96 season. You can just see the windex at the top of the image. (See Ship's Log for 7/26/96 and 10/26/96)
Spinnaker SetupThe spinnaker pole downhaul runs to the base of the mast. This allows it to be set for the pole height without requiring adjustment when the pole is moved fore/aft. The spinnaker sheets/guys are about 45 ft long. That seems to be about minimum with the cheek blocks aft. Using leads at the aft end of the genoa track saves about 5 ft.
Mast Padeye
This is a padeye I mounted on the mast. It is a Schaefer 78-71 stem eye with a curved base. The curve fits the mast perfectly. I fashoned a curved backing plate from some 3/16 aluminum with a bit of filing. This padeye is speced at 3,500 lbs. That's strong. I placed another one about 15 inches up for tying off halyards and things. I use this lower one for the spinaker pole downhaul. The pole is free to swing side to side without the need for downhaul adjustment.
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