Gybing with the Spinnaker Pole Launcher

From an e-mail discussion with Mike Martin and Jesse Falsone.

Jesse: Assume a starboard to port tack jibe.

  1. Skipper hands crew pole launcher line - crew throws over side in front of trapeze line (fwd hand).

  2. Skipper pre-cleats the windward jib sheets.

  3. Crew uncleats jib sheet (aft hand) and swings in. Skipper turns down to keep boat flat.

  4. Crew uncleats pole launcher (fwd hand) then skipper jibes boat.

  5. Crew throws boom over with aft hand (left in this case) and pulls twing with fwd hand (right hand assuming the boat is rigged with the Mike Martin single pull twing system). As crew pulls twing, he is ducking boom and crossing sides.

  6. Crew reinserts sheet in forks and launches pole. Initial pull is with inbd hand while oubd hand pulls sheet back to get clew to end of pole. This is not always necessary.

  7. Once pole is re-set, grab new spin sheet from skipper with right hand and grab trap ring with left and hook up.

  8. Sheet in and go out on wire.

  9. Trim jib.

Some good things to have are a pole retractor (I have found that the simple shock cord tied in the back of the boom going to a micro block in the front with a loop around the pole works best), and forks that curl up and around for a larger target to insert sheet.

Also, I think some people uncleat the pole while on the wire.

Mike:

  1. As the crew swings in the skipper starts turning a slow arc. The skipper keeps this same arc until the boom comes over.

  2. As crew swings in he goes for the cleat to release the pole.

  3. After the pole is released, he grabs the twing with the windward hand, and the boom with the leeward hand. and throws the boom and pulls the twing handle at the same time.

  4. after the boom comes over the skippers steers to keep the boat under the kite. the crew takes one pull on the pole line to extend the pole about 18 inches.

  5. the crew then puts the line in the fork, and holds onto the guy with the weather hand and pulls the pole out with the leeward hand until the fork reaches the end of the guy at the kite.(this should be only 1 pull) once the fork gets to the kite, he can pull the pole out with 2 hands.

  6. the skipper should grab the sheet while the crew is launching the pole and hold it up so the crew can grab it on his way out.

Mike noted that he and Jesse use the same process, both descpriptions are included so that all the detail is included.