Bill Gladstone of North U. heads up the Offshore Sailing School Performance Race Week held in April each year. This is a simple, but clever explanation of how to maximize crew and boat performance if your approach to the leeward mark suggests you probably should jibe the shoot before dousing it. If you haven’t yet learned the basics of flying a symmetrical spinnaker, please review the rest of the videos on this page.

Practice makes perfect! In our sailboat racing classes, you practice over and over how to properly set, fly, and douse a spinnaker. Performance Race Week truly hones your downwind racing skills with expert coaches on each boat, Bill Gladstone’s seminars, and video recap after each day on the water..

How to Set Up for a Spinnaker Hoist

This video demonstrates how to set up for a spinnaker hoist, taking into consideration the three component parts – sheet and guy, pole, and spinnaker. Here are some helpful spinnaker sailing tips on how to set them all up:

• First, accordion fold the spinnaker to make sure it unfurls without twisting as you raise it from its bag
• Hold the head of the sail in one hand and use the other hand to fold one side of the spinnaker in and out; grab those folds with the hand holding the head, then do the same with the other side of the sail
• Holding the head of the sail and the two corners together, carefully place it in its bag
• If the two lines that control the bottom two corners of the spinnaker are not yet set up,
  run the after guy and the sheet completely outside the lifelines and lead them into the cockpit on the
  side where you plan to let the spinnaker fly out
• Run the after guy through the end of the pole, with jaws up
• Attach the topping lift to the bridle that holds the pole up when the sail is hoisted

Want to learn more about spinnaker setup? Take one of our sailboat racing classes, and learn how to properly set, fly, and a spinnaker. Performance Race Week truly hones your downwind racing skills with lots of sets and douses.

How to Set a Spinnaker

In this video you learn how to do a bear-away spinnaker set. Here are some helpful hints:

• Always put the spinnaker pole up on the windward side and hoist the spinnaker from the leeward side
• Make sure the pole is all the way forward as the spinnaker is hoisted
• Make sure the spinnaker sail bag is attached to the boat, connect the halyard to the head of the spinnaker
• Keep your jib up while hosting the spinnaker
• As someone pulls quickly on the spinnaker halyard, another crew member should control the sheet to keep the spinnaker from twisting around
• When the chute is all the way up, bring the pole back perpendicular to the masthead fly
• The spinnaker trimmer should continuously ease the sheet until he/she sees a little curl on the luff, then trim in to stop the curl

Want to learn more about how to set a spinnaker? In the Learn to Sail Course you get to sail downwind with a spinnaker. In our Performance Sailing Course, you practice over and over how to properly set a spinnaker. Performance Race Week truly hones your racing skills while flying a spinnaker.