News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

winch men, two tirelesstypes; mast man, talland big; foredeck, can tiea bowline in 1.8 seconds;spinnaker trimmer, nevertakes his eyes off theball; sewer, optional.Total seven or eightcrew. On smaller boats,mast and deck can becombined and cockpitreduced to one for a totalof four or five crew.Rumb Squall, an Antrim 27, under small asymmetric spinnaker,launched from bag on the foredeck. Photo by Mike KirkPACKING THECHUTEIt’s a mess and far toobig for one person towrestle into some kindof order. Rig a hook ashigh as possible insidethe cabin to provide apoint of reference. Hookthe head of the chute tothe fixed point. Twocrew members simultaneously “run thetapes.” Taking the red- and green-colorededges of the spinnaker, feed theleaches though the hands until respectivelythe clew and tack corners arereached. Fix the tack and clew grommetson the hook with the head. Forinsurance run the foot of the chute fromclew to tack to test for anytwist in the chute. Thechaos of the bunched materialall around the crew’sfeet is not important aslong as all tapes are run.Starting with the foot,stuff the bulk of the materialinto the spinnaker bagleaving the three cornersattached to the hook. Lastlylay clew and tack out ofeach end of the bag andleave the head hanging outof the middle for attachinglater to control lines. Velcrofasteners are the only wayto go for the closing fixtureon the bag.RAISING THE CHUTEThe moment of truth isnearing, and the foredeckcrew are about to test theirknot-tying prowess.There are three positions for thehoist: from the bag on the side deck,from the companionway or from thefore-hatch. The bag-on-the-side-deckNews & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS October 2006 51