In a previous “TodayILearnt” we talked about “Cover and Peel” to hoist or drop an Asymmetric sail whilst the wind has got a bit exciting.
The same process can be done for Gybing when the wind gets a bit out of control, i.e. up above 16kts.
To be honest we probably would just put it away at that stage because our Asym is only good up to about 20kts true. But the process is the same anyway.
We would roll out the Genoa underneath the Asym. Now this might seem counter intuitive, put more sail out when you are over-sailed, but it will steal wind from the Asym and allow us to furl it away without damage.
Once the Genoa is deployed and trimmed so it sits inside the Asym, we’ll furl the Asym away, which we do by:
- Using our marriage savers to communicate
- I got forward to the continuous furling line and making sure I am sitting down, begin furling
- Talking Connie through how much slack I need in the sail as she lets off the windward sheet for the Asym. The Leeward sheet is just allowed to stay loose and will wrap around the sail as it is furled.
- We then quite quickly end up sailing just on the Genoa with the Asym furled in front of it.
- We ensure there are wraps around the Asym to prevent it opening unexpectedly. We do this by holding tension on the sheet for the last part of the furl, so I can get some tension into a tight furl and then, when I say, Connie will just let the line go and the tension will tightly wrap the line a few times.
- I return to the safety of the Helm and add some tension (now there is no wind fighting me) onto the spinnaker halyard, to stop it moving about to much.
If we were going to Gybe we would then gybe the Genoa in the usual manner and then pull out the Asym over the top of it, getting it setup before furling away the Genoa and allowing the wind at it.