Spinnakers at Oak Orchard - the jibe

Photo by Kara Muscarella aboard Sciabola

Spinnaker flying can be a lot of fun at times, but it takes a skilled crew to make it look effortless. When the spinnaker is flying well it's a joy to behold, but sudden confusion at any moment may require liberal doses of adult language, skill, and luck to bring the beast back under control - or not.

Thinking about spinnaker jibes brought back to memories of the 2010 Oak Orchard Yacht Club Invitational Regatta. The green boat is OOYC's EMERAUDE that I had the pleasure to be aboard that day. Seen here, we are sailing into a mass of spinnakers at the mark that my father, EMEARAUD's ownwer, had advised me to stay clear of. After just coming back from a twenty-year hiatus from sailing, I felt confident that we had room to maneuver. This was a slow-motion train wreck that ended well. If interested, the link to the rest of the photos is at: http://www.flickr.com//photos/46651213@N03/sets/72157624736510918/show/

I was searching tactics for jibing a spinnaker and found a bit of a different situation for the sailboat EXPEDITIOUS as she broaches with her spinnaker after attempting a jibe. In researching sailing tactics for the spinnakers, I watched this epic unfolding of events and wondered what could have made this situation better. I usually don't read comments for videos because they seem written by teenage boys who excel in the art of bad words and bad spelling, but this one had some interesting thoughts.

The video ends with the eventual grounding of EXPEDITIOUS.