Double-handed sailing is gaining in popularity across many disciplines – we now regularly see crews of two managing all sizes of boat, and sailing them with the same efficiency and expectations as full crews. In this series I’m sharing how I approach key manoeuvres with a crew of two, how to minimise risk, prepare for success and advance your techniques.
This month is the first of two covering how to handle symmetric spinnakers. For more see yachtingworld.com and youtube.com/yachtingworld
Many new designs now favour asymmetric spinnakers for downwind sailing and we’ve covered those techniques in earlier articles (see yachtingworld.com/tag/double-handed). However, the symmetrical spinnaker still has its place in both the cruising and racing worlds and for many boats will give better downwind VMG performance than the asymmetric alternative.
Learning to manage this type of sail as a double-handed crew is a very attainable skill and should not be considered risky.
