One of the most beautiful and majestic experiences in sailing is using the spinnaker, also known as the “chute” or “kite.” You may have had the chance to see a picturesque ocean horizon filled with the colorful teardrop shapes of distant spinnakers. If so, it will be tough to resist the urge to “fly the chute” whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Unfortunately, the spinnaker can only be used under certain conditions. As mentioned previously, the spinnaker functions only in drag, so it cannot be used when sailing upwind. The spinnaker is only useful on a beam reach and below.

Since the spinnaker is so large, it should only be used in light to moderate winds, or there is a real risk that it will overpower the boat. Remember, you deal with strong winds by reducing sail area, which is counter to the huge sail area of the spinnaker.

On the other hand, there needs to be enough steady wind to be sure that the spinnaker will be filled at all times. Since the spinnaker is not fixed along one or more edges like the other sails (the mainsail is fixed along the boom and mast, the jib along the forestay), it can easily become tangled and difficult to handle if it’s not always filled with wind.

The fact that the spinnaker has more “moving parts” means it’s more difficult to operate than the other sails. It’s best to have at least three competent crewmembers aboard, including the captain, when using the spinnaker. You’ll need one person to helm the boat, one to work the sheets and one to work the spinnaker rigging on the foredeck.

A lot can go wrong with the spinnaker. In strong winds, the spinnaker can overpower the boat, causing loss of control and knockdown danger. For this reason, stop knots should never be tied in the spinnaker sheets. It’s important that the sheets can be let free quickly under an emergency and stop knots are counter to that aim.

Less dangerous mishaps involving the spinnaker are more common. The spinnaker can be twisted on itself forming an hourglass as both the top and bottom sections fill with wind. This embarrassing and annoying problem can occur either when the sail is raised improperly, or if the spinnaker is not kept full of wind.

If close attention is not paid to the rigging, spinnaker sheets can become tangled in the stays or lifelines. If the halyard is attached to the wrong corner of the sail, it can be raised sideways, the ultimate embarrassment.

Spinnaker Rigging

Due to the aforementioned lack of connection to the forestay, spinnaker rigging is slightly more sophisticated than the other foresails. The halyard, as usual, is connected to the head and used to raise and lower the spinnaker. Each bottom corner of the spinnaker is connected to a line whose name changes based its relationship to the wind at the moment. The leeward of these two lines is called the sheet, while the windward is called the guy.

A spinnaker pole is connected to the mast and the corner of the sail controlled by the guy. The pole holds the spinnaker away from the mast and provides some stability to the sail shape (without the pole the spinnaker would have too much draft). The topping lift and downhaul are connect to the end of the pole by the bridle, or ring, and are used to control the angle of the pole.

Ideally, the spinnaker is stowed in a pouch attached to the deck or lifelines that facilitates raising and lowering the sail. These operations are easiest if done with the pouch on the leeward side of the boat.

Flying the Chute

Here’s the basic procedure for deploying the spinnaker. It is assumed you are sailing with a mainsail and jib, and that you’re sure the conditions are appropriate for spinnaker use as described above.

1. Sail onto a broad reach. Note, this doesn’t necessarily need to be done first. It can be done any time prior to raising the spinnaker halyard. However, since a broad reach is a fairly calm tack and there will be some work on the foredeck to be done, I suggest taking this step first.
2. Check the spinnaker for twists. With the spinnaker still stowed in its pouch or bag, pull all three corners out of bag. Follow each edge of the sail from corner to corner to find and correct any twists. Ideally, this process can be done on shore prior to sailing.
3. Rig the spinnaker sheets. Attach the halyard, sheet and guy to the appropriate corners of the sail (the head should be clearly marked). When flying, the spinnaker should end up in front of forestay and outside everything else on the boat, so make sure to rig the lines to the outside of the forestay, sidestays, lifelines, etc. Again, do not tie stopper knots in the spinnaker sheets as that could be extremely dangerous in high winds.
4. Rig the spinnaker pole. Attach the spinnaker pole to the mast and connect the topping lift and downhaul. Adjust the topping lift and downhaul so that the pole is level. Connect the spinnaker pole to the windward corner of the spinnaker (note this will bring the spinnaker out of its bag a bit, so be ready to get it up as soon as possible after this step).
5. Raise the spinnaker. Hoist the sail by bringing in and cleating spinnaker halyard.
6. Set the sheets. Set spinnaker by adjusting the sheet and guy. The sail should be directly downwind, acting entirely in drag.
7. Trim the spinnaker. Once the spinnaker is in a generally good position, cleat the guy and use only the sheet to make any minor adjustments. One indicator of proper spinnaker trim is the bottom of the sail, which should be level with both clew and tack at the same height. Another indicator is the curl (or draft) of the sail which should give it some fairly good shape. Never let the spinnaker become to flat or it may stall.
8. Drop or furl jib. This step can be taken any time after the spinnaker is raised, but it’s best to wait until the spinnaker is fully set to avoid confusion and make best use of limited crew.

Trimming the Spinnaker

Again, the spinnaker is trimmed by using the sheet only, with the guy only adjusted when gybing or making significant heading changes. The pole angle and the spinnaker curl have already been mentioned as trim indicators, but we’ll reiterate them here and add some further details:

1. Spinnaker pole height. The pole should be level and set so that the tack and clew of the sail are also level. Pole height is affected primarily by the topping lift and downhaul.
2. Sheeting angle. The sheets should be set so that the spinnaker pole is perpendicular to the wind. The angle of the spinnaker pole is determined by the guy.
3. Sail shape. The spinnaker should have significant draft, and it will naturally curl simply due to its shape and rigging. The general guideline of a flatter sail in stronger winds applies, but the spinnaker should never be too flat or it will stall. To increase draft, ease the sheet.

Gybing with the Spinnaker

Gybing with the spinnaker is slightly more complicated than a normal gybe since the spinnaker pole needs to be flipped manually from one side of the sail to the other. However, it’s not too difficult if done properly. Here are the basic steps:

1. Sail directly downwind. Trim the spinnaker for a dead run. If you’re on a broad reach, you’ll ease the sheet, and bring in the guy. Keep a close watch on the boom – all the dangers of gybing still apply. Steering the boat during a spinnaker gybe is as simple as keeping the boat directly behind the spinnaker, almost like you’re following the spinnaker. This will take you on an S-like curve and keep the spinnaker in a stable position relative to the boat, allowing the crew to easily set up the rigging. Make sure before you gybe that you have enough room around you to complete the process, i.e., you don’t want to be in close quarters or surrounded by other boats.
2. Gybe the main. You’ll first turn slightly past a dead run towards the opposite broad reach to gybe the main – intentionally so it doesn’t happen by accident. Then you’ll turn back downwind to a dead run. See the S-like path coming into play?
3. Flip the spinnaker pole. One crewmember will go to the foredeck and change the spinnaker pole to the opposite side. It’s not as simple as just allowing the pole to rotate like the boom. First, detach the end of the pole from mast and attach that end to the opposite corner of the spinnaker (now both corners of the spinnaker are attached to the pole). Then, detach the pole from the other corner of the sail and attach that end of the pole to the mast. Now the former sheet is the guy, and what was the guy is the sheet.
4. Steer onto the new broad reach and trim the sails as necessary.

Lowering the Spinnaker

Just like the other sails, lowering the spinnaker is accomplished by essentially reversing the sail raising procedure. Here’s an outline:

1. Steer to a broad reach. As with raising the spinnaker, it’s easiest on a broad reach.
2. Raise or unfurl the jib. You’ll want the jib up once the spinnaker is down. Raising it first shields the spinnaker from the wind, making handling easier. You can now steer the boat deliberately to where the jib blocks the most wind from the spinnaker.
3. Detach the spinnaker pole and guy. One crewmember will go forward to take this step, then gather in the bottom of the spinnaker (foot) while the sheet is let out slowly under tension, similar to furling the jib.
4. Lower the halyard. Once the foot of the spinnaker has been gathered, the spinnaker can be pulled down while the halyard is released.
5. Re-stow spinnaker and rigging. When stuffing the spinnaker into its pouch or bag, be sure to keep it free from twists so it can be easily raised next time.

MOB with the Spinnaker

Since the spinnaker can only be used when sailing downwind, the normal MOB procedure is impossible with the spinnaker up. The spinnaker makes a serious situation even more dangerous.

To pick up an MOB, the first step is to get rid of the spinnaker, by either dropping it quickly using the normal procedure, or by simply cutting the lines and letting it fly away. The danger of the situation needs to be judged in real-time to determine if there’s time to drop the spinnaker, with the safety of the MOB as the first priority.

If the situation calls for it, let the spinnaker go by uncleating the sheet and guy and letting them run free. The halyard will have to be cut. If there is enough time, you can tie a lifejacket to one of the sheets and try to recover spinnaker after picking up the MOB.

If you judge the situation to be less serious, simply lower the spinnaker as in the normal procedure and then proceed with the MOB recovery. The only difference from the normal spinnaker lowering procedure is that you don’t need to fly the jib, since extra power is not what you’re after during an MOB recovery.