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chute or bags Hi I am currently building a new foam sandwhich boat. I am after peoples opinions on chutes and bags. I have always had problems with chutes mostly due to poor design. I am leaning towards putting bags in . What do you think is the best one. jeff purcell 5-Aug-2005    Edit    Delete

Re: chute or bags Go bags mate!! the last nat champs winner from mighty QLD, She Waits for No Man had bags. But it also had queenslanders sailing her!!! Seriously though... What i've found is that the sets are usually quicker with bags but the drops are slower. Also the kite will last longer cause its not being stretched through a chute. Bags have no return lines (extra weight and windage plus lees chance for lines to tangle)not to mention extra weight of the chute and reinforcement patches in the kite. Bags also let the skipper concentrate on the bottom mark rounding and keeps their head out of the boat while the crews is in... hope this helps QUEENSLANDER!!! QUEENSLANDER!! 16-Aug-2005    Edit    Delete

Re: chute or bags Thanks Queenslander. Very interesting to hear of the benefits of the bag because I have returned to 125's after a very long break and in the past we used chutes. I had considered returning to a chute (my boat set up with bags) and changed my mind only recently as I got used to the bag set up (that is my young crew did). The only issue that I have yet to resolve is now to keep the damm thing in the bag whilst tacking. With one tail out of the bag, the wind and water that slops over tends to pull it out of the bag and my crew is constantly having to re-stuff it in. But I will be looking at Queenslander's boat at the start of the season to see what they do. Derek Miles Derek Miles 16-Aug-2005    Edit    Delete

Re: chute or bags thanks for the imformation have decided to use bags. Now i only have to get the boat finished. JEFF PURCELL 17-Aug-2005    Edit    Delete

Re: chute or bags The ability and strength of the crew is most important thing when making the chute vs bags decision. I have smaller crews 14-16 year olds and their skills and strength is still developing. The combination of chute and pole launcher make spinnaker handling a breeze. I can beat bags for hoist and drop any time. The key is to share the work-load so that both skipper and crew can contribute at the same time. This is impossible do achieve with bags. The crew has to do most of the work and the skipper gets frustrated waiting for them. My chute is a well rounded fibreglass moulding in the bow cover and has a double pull. It lies along the foredeck and terminates at the port side stay, leaving the cockpit area clear. In the event of a capsise it is very easy to suck it all away and come up clean - it just works. If you want more details of the pole launcher send me an email. donb@picknowl.com.au Don Barnett 10-Oct-2005    Edit    Delete

Re: chute or bags I have a 12 year old daughter as my crew and we use the bags. It took a fair bit of learning to get it right but we can operate the bag system quite well now. In regards to splitting of chores, I operate the uphaul and lowering function from the back of the thwart. The crew only needs to worry about attaching the pole, topping lift and making sure the spinnaker exits the bag ok and stows on retrieval. I imagine most Qlders use this method. Derek Miles 11-Oct-2005    Edit    Delete

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