F30 spinnaker dimensions

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by mike cunningham »

I purchased a gun mount, pole and spinnaker from one of our colleagues on the board but the pole and spinnaker are sized for a Freedom 32. The pole is 2 feet longer than the F30 standard pole . I am going to stick with this length. However the spinnaker hoist on a 32 is 5 feet greater than the 30 so I believe the the spinnaker is going to be too large for my boat. The dimensions of the recently purchased symmetrical spinnaker are 34 foot luff/leech, 19 foot foot.

I have taken a shot at calculating appropriate luff and I believe it should be somewhere around 28 to 32 feet. I am guessing the foot should be 17 - 19 feet. I realize there is some wiggle room in these dimensions but wanted someone with a F30 spinnaker to advise if I am in the ballpark.

I am planning on purchasing a relatively inexpensive used spinnaker which I could practice with and beat up a little since I know I am going to abuse the sail as I I get to know how to use the system. The used chutes can be pretty cheap so this seems like a good investment and should allow me to gain knowledge re what I want the final chute to look like. Of course I need to know basic dimensions in order to select an appropriate used sail.

Appreciate any feedback.

Mike
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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rvivian
Posts: 210
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by rvivian »

Mike -

If the rain stops here I'll try to measure my F-30 spinnaker on Sunday.

In the meantime - Rick Simonds posted a very good description a while back that read as follows:

:A gunmount spinnaker is absolutely great and we'll get your going on this, but do you just need the sail itself? Do you know what pieces you have (the gunmount and the pole, some lines and blocks, the bag...?) Search the "Manuals and Documentation" section of this site for the "Freedom 32 Owners Manual", there's a diagram of the gunmount rigging in there. I'm not sure the 30's line lengths are the same but the basic rigging should be.

My experience with the sail itself is that a gunmount spinnaker pretty much an ordinary symmetrical spinnaker with a single alteration: It needs to have a reinforcing patch sewn onto the center of the sail for the retrieve line to attach. Measure equidistant from each corner and put it 2 or 3 feet above that point. It looks like a "bullseye": It's 4 concentric circular layers of standard 1.5 oz. nylon, each layer decreasing in size. Put a small grommet dead center and you're all set. It's an easy alteration for any sailmaker, I've even done it myself.

I don't know if the 30 has the same dimensions, I would think it doesn't, but on my Hoyt 32 if the chute's foot measurement is a little longer than the pole (or around 22-ish feet, from memory) and the luff measurement is a little longer than the hoist (35-ish feet), plus or minus several feet, it'll fly on the gunmount. Somewhere I have a drawing I made of the original sail's dimensions, I'll try to find it if you want.

I've had 5 dfferent spinnakers over the years. The original spinnaker that came with the boat was a fairly standard 3/4 oz. tri-radial with the exception that it had a very gentle "S" curve to the luff edges (i.e. - It was pretty straight-sided, it didn't have big "sholders" at the top of the sail.) The worst I tried was a gigantic, light air, .5 oz racing spinnker. It flew in even the barest breeze and it exploded in ribbons if you looked at it funny. I repaired it twice then junked it on the third blowout. I tried a heavy-cloth, too-small reaching spinnaker. Meh. Nothing wrong with it but it really likes more wind than I care to fly a spinnaker in. It's carefully packed and stowed aboard, one day it will be a "get home" sail. The other 2, including my current one, have been standard 3/4 oz. tri-radials. They're a little wider on top and they don't point quite as high as the orginal chute but everything else is about the same. I have the boat's orginal chute stored at home. The cloth is too sun-rotted to ever use it, but if I ever have a new chute made from scratch I'll have them copy the shape and dimensions of that one.

Really though, in my experience, if it's even vaguely the right size you can use about any symmetrical."
Heart's Desire
Freedom 30
Shelton, WA

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by mike cunningham »

Thanks Heart's Desire. Excellent information. I had pretty much come to the same conclusion regarding using a spinnaker size in the ballpark, practice with it and then decide where to go from there. I needed some reinforcement.

One really good piece of info. was the comment about 1/2 ounce cloth. I really needed some calibration regarding the right weight cloth to be thinking about, esp. on the used sail market where cloth weights are all over the place. The ultimate plan is to use the rig for a long ocean race where the sail is going to take some serious abuse in relatively high winds 15 to 30 Kts - well, OK, maybe not to 30 Kts but well above 15.

As mentioned in my previous post, I did purchase a full gunmount/spinnaker/pole setup from and F32 owner and while I think the chute is going to be too large for my boat, It provides an excellent example of where the retrieval patch needs to be, how it needs to be reinforced, etc. I also have a bunch of deck hardware, blocks and line to buy, install and rig. The most significant work yet to do is the removal of my current pulpit and modification/installation of a gunmount ready pulpit which I purchased from a guy parting out a Freedom 30. I was surprised to find the gunmount pulpit was about a foot shorter than the non gunmount so I am arranging for a fabricator in the Bay Area to lengthen it so I can exactly duplicate the footprint of my current pulpit.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

Salacia
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:09 pm

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by Salacia »

We had a gun mount spinnaker pole and spinnaker on our F-30. It hung very low, so low we couldn't see under it. Which isn't a good thing while sailing in lobster trap infested waters of Maine. One year we had enough and asked the sail maker to take out the bottom two panels. They thought we were crazy even after we explained the problem. But it worked. We sailed all over Maine and Massachusetts using that spinnaker.
Now I am flying an asymmetrical on an F-35. Great fun.
Stephen Lee
Salacia
F35 Pedrick
Marblehead MA and Rockland ME

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rvivian
Posts: 210
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by rvivian »

Mike -

I dug out my F-30 spinnaker today and measured the foot (clew to clew) and from the clew to the head along the side of the sail sail.

Foot - 16' 7"
head to clew -- 31' 4"

For what it is worth it was made by Larson Sails in Santa Cruz

The spinnaker is now hanging in a friends garage drying out until around 10 am tomorrow. If you need other measurements please let me know before then.
Heart's Desire
Freedom 30
Shelton, WA

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by mike cunningham »

Thanks very much for the dimensions!! My guess was pretty close. Since my pole is 18 foot vice the 16 foot original standard I will probably add some length to the foot for the used "test" sail I will be seeking. I will try to stick close to the leech/luff measurement you recorded. That should get me close enough to actually start practicing with the system and get a better feel for what the final sail should look like.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by mike cunningham »

Hi all, bumping this discussion to ask follow on question. Does anyone have a PHRF rating for the F30 equipped with the gun mount spinnaker? I am currently at 168 and have to apply for a 2016 cert. I will be adding the gun mount and wondering what sort of rating hit to expect.

Thanks,

Mike
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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rvivian
Posts: 210
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by rvivian »

Heart's Desire
Freedom 30
Shelton, WA

bad
Posts: 184
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:14 am

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by bad »

Northern California PHRF has the F30 listed at 165 I think. On the East Coast it goes into the 170's but it may be for the shallow draft version. Going from spin to non- spin can be as much as a 12 sec difference.

e

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: F30 spinnaker dimensions

Post by mike cunningham »

I am at 168 now and wondering what they will hit me with when I go to the gummount which is why I am asking the question. I am shoal draft which is not spelled out on my phrf cert for 2015 so maybe i shoud try to get some credit for the shoal keel while I loose some credit for the gunmount.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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