1:1 Scale Sailing: Asymmetrical Spinnaker Rigged

 I played hooky yesterday and spent the day on the water installing a Asymmetrical Spinnaker sail on the Bucentaure.  Spinnakers are used for adding speed when the boat if "running" the wind is coming over the stern.  An asymmetrical spinnaker can do this but also be configured to work when the wind comes from a beam reach position (coming at a 90 degree angle across either side of the boat.  Spinnakers are traditionally "gaudy" sails and my sail is a very patriotic red, white and blue.

 Here's a shot of the spinnaker furled (rolled up) next to the jib (which is also furled).  It was a very light wind day which usually isn't the best for sailing but is great when one is installing something that one really doesn't know how to work yet.

I've got a lot to learn in sailing the boat and what conditions work best for each sail plan.  I'm also fairly clumsy in deploying sails (let's just say I can be a bit slowwww...), so there will be a lot of practice needed.

 Obligatory shot of the Bucentaure in her slip just prior to heading out.  At the bow you can see the 2' metal boom that I installed for the spinnaker rig - technically it makes my boat just a little bigger.  In a gaming related note, my slip mate - the gentlemen who owns the 50 foot cruiser to the left knows a little history as he asked me where I was going to put the 80 guns the Bucentaure is required to carry!  It isn't such a big jump from naval history buff to naval gamer when enticed by 1/1200 Langton model!  Now I need to figure out how to raise the gaming issue in a socially acceptable way...

Nothing tastes better after a day of sailing than pizza and a beer.  You can see one of my crew in the picture - Elvis.  My wife and I are dog sitting Mr Elvis for the next week or so.  He's not too bad despite being a poodle and he did seem to enjoy sailing which is a big positive.  I did tie a line to him in case he went over the side.

A dog in a restaurant?  St Michaels, MD is a very dog friendly town and most of the restaurants that have outside patios allow people to bring their dogs.  Very civilized.