We have just had a fun weekend in Delirium (34P) on the South Coast of the UK. We had a 50 mile dead downwind run in 20-25kt, main single-reefed, full 100% jib goose-winged and poled out with the spinnaker pole. We rigged a preventer from the boom eye at the vang through the fore cleat and back to the quarter cleat for emergency release if required. We gybed by releasing the preventer, sheeting the main in to near the midline and handing the falls of the sheet over to leeward as we gybed. It helps to keep as much way on as possible but we were already doing 9kt over the ground with a following sea. We left the jib poled out to leeward on the new, slightly broader gybe as we had previously found that we could sail 10-15 degrees lower with that configuration. In anything over 20kt the spinnaker is more trouble than it’s worth 3 up. I sympathise with the problem – we have caught the mainsheet round our helm instrument binnacle with less neat gybes in the past! No damage luckily.
The membership association for owners of Dufour Yachts