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Kite Socks - Are they worth the hassle?


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So for short handed racing, I've perfected the "Sanford" drop, but I'm concerned if I do many more of them I'm going to have to purchase fishing quota...

 

Are kite socks all they're cracked up to be? or are they just something else to piss about with on the foredeck?

 

Do they actually work when you need them, like when a nasty little squal sneaks up on you?

 

What about a retrival line instead? or something like a letter box drop?

 

What do others do, and with what size gear?

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For my money, I would say they are one more [pair of] lines to handle and one more step in your hoists and drops. Possibly they fill the niche of helping Mum 'n' Dad crews get a kite hoisted in a controlled fashion without too much scary flapping and snapping.

 

Certainly in my relatively-short experience of using one, it was too much to expect that it would "gather" the kite unless it was well depowered = a lot of sheet dumped. So for your nasty little squall example, the same amount of effort/energy that it takes to get the sock over the kite would probably have been enough to get the whole sail down.

 

Now a Code Zero on a furler is something that impresses me but that's not the question you were asking...

 

"Sanford drop" - very funny and a new one on me. Hopefully I am not telling you something you already know but if the kite is ending up in the tide, it could be:

- halyard being run too quick - have you tried the old "throw it over the side" trick?

- running too tight/not deep enough as you go into the drop.

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Yours going to be about 2 sizes to big to single hand with AA? Yes please :twisted: :twisted: :lol:

 

I'm lucky my beast can only fit oversized hankies so handling isn't a biggie usually. I put one loose turn around the winch with the halyard, grab the sheet, flick the jamber off and pull like a school boy into the cockpit. Quick suss of what I'm (or AA is ;) ) about to hit then push the kite downstairs. I do try to run off a little if there is room so the main blankets the kite a bit. Worse case I've dropped the halyard 1/2ish way so the bottom of the kite hits the water but knot so much it grabs hard or whitebaits, more sort of skims the surface in a semi-sticky sort of way. I found that pretty much takes the Omph out and gives me a few seconds longer to drag it aboard. So far so good, long may it continue.

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Get yourself a Code-X from Sailutions. Website for more details is http://www.seldenmast.com/frameset.cfm?id=6777 or go to http://www.weiti.co.nz and click on the link to get a pdf about it. Totally cool and when I have finished spending all my hard earned $ on projects already started, I'll get one of these.

Ah yes, Sailutions, the champion sponsor of the Weiti Short Handed series :clap:

Don't think the code X works to well on spinnakers though... might need a bow sprit, wouldn't mind one of them, better buy a lotto ticket, then I could get a gargantuan gennaker as well.

See if I can't wipe out as well as the Ant :D

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I use 2. Both ATNs. One for the kite, one for the jennaker. I like them when singlehanding, but with crew it's faster witout them. I've tried others, but the ATNs seem to work best. A bit pricey though! Have a look on sailrite...

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Have had good success short handed with the atn sleeves for dowsing kites as the have a seperate pocket on the outside for the control lines so less likely to get tied up in knots but prefer the martin breaker system for gennies especially running tight

 

when dowsing the kite tight reaching i find it easier to dowse first, get it downstairs and the hoist the genoa - saves dragging the donut down the back of the genoa which can make the dowse slower

 

another trick is to keep the control lines apart when in use - i normally tie them apart on the lifelines to stop them wrapping around each other (learnt that one the hard way!!)

 

the beauty of the sleeve is that you dont have to repack the kite

 

try Doyles for pricing as they are also agents

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It is a way of automtically pinging the tack by easing the tack line. Basically a small line set to a fixed length that runs through a gibb clip on the tack line and is fixed to the bow of the boat. Smoke the tack line which releases the tack, gennie floats in behind mainsail etc biggest advantage is that you don't have to soak to get it down and it's impossible to go fishing with the tack released

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We put them on SD for the short handed races and found them pretty good. Thats mainly becuase you have plenty of time and sail conservatively. For racing fully crewed on the harbour they are hopeless. After 5/6 gybes the sail/sock gets all twisted and it won't go up or down or both. Plus of course you lose a couple of feet on the hoist. But for cruising, shorthanded yep, I give them a big :thumbup:

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Light hijack, but has anybody tried setting up a ‘shoot’ type of system on a decent sized keeler?

 

When I say ‘shoot’ I mean the kind of setups used on dinghy/skiffs where there is a funnel type arrangement in the fordeck with a retrieval line running through the shoot up to the centre of the kite. You’ll know what Im talking about if you’ve used one.

 

Ive been toying with the idea of a hoop with a long sock that could be temporarily fixed to the outside of the pulpit and run down the outside of the lifelines.

 

Anybody given this a go?

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I have been waiting for someone to chime in with the legend of the "death cord".

 

Story as it was relayed to me as a young fulla was that there was a maxi out of the States - the name will come to me in a week's time - that had a system for dropping the kite that they called the death cord. The cord itself was several grunty shock-cords wrapped together (same concept that the bungy jump operators also came up with) with a snap-shackle on the end.

 

The attachment point for the cord was downstairs and well aft and they would strain it through the full length of the interior to a cleat just inside the forward hatch. When it came the time to douse the kite, they would clip the maxed-out cord to a retrieval line running to the middle of the kite, then turn 'er loose.

 

The two incidents I was told were the time that the halyard wasn't free to run and the cord proceeded to tear the retrieval patch out of the middle of the kite, also an occasion when it just plain broke free and the snap-shackle ended up deeply embedded in a bulkhead.

 

The likes of Wal would probably have been brought up on this legend.

 

Maybe it is time someone dusted off the concept and gave it a go again? :thumbup:

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Jeesh - doing it on a maxi would be pretty flamin keen! and I never would have thought to use shockcord, I was thinking some decent weight nylon would do the trick as the retrieval line.

 

Foredeck hatch with a sock mounted underneath might do the trick, but it might be a bit to far aft?!

 

Keen on any stories on this one before i waste (even more) time on another ingenious idea that wont work. :crazy:

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Light hijack, but has anybody tried setting up a ‘shoot’ type of system on a decent sized keeler?

 

When I say ‘shoot’ I mean the kind of setups used on dinghy/skiffs where there is a funnel type arrangement in the fordeck with a retrieval line running through the shoot up to the centre of the kite. You’ll know what Im talking about if you’ve used one.

 

Ive been toying with the idea of a hoop with a long sock that could be temporarily fixed to the outside of the pulpit and run down the outside of the lifelines.

 

Anybody given this a go?

 

Extensively but knot on a lead swinger. I am in the process of trying it now though. A few hours of bits and bobs to finish on the throat and retrieval system and we'll see if it's a goer or knot. A kites been modified and shute tail done.

 

Still have the 'what the F do I do with the pole?' question to answer though. I don't have A sails or a prod. But I suppose once the kite is tucked away or tucks away faster it'll give me time to sort the pole, that does only take 15 seconds odd but I do have to go forward so say 30 seconds out of the cockpit. The joys of only having oversized dingy gear :thumbup:

 

What does concern me though is you just don't see them out there so either I'm smarter than the rest {have fun with that ;) } or there is a good reason I can't see as yet. I do have to admit I'm knot leaning towards the 'smarter' option so ................... :?

 

Fingers crossed it will be trialled in about 2 weeks. Stand by for Ya hoo's or Bo hoo's. I don't expect this system to work well in every occasion but hope it will for most especially when short staffed.

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All you need is a telescoping pole run off a dive bottle...

 

...one fixed camera on the transom, one at the masthead and one helmet-cam...

 

and we will be on our way to the YouTube hit of the year. :thumbup:

 

Seriously mate good luck, I can't see any reason why - given a small enough boat and the right conditions - this would knot work and be faster than clumping round on the bow clipping on bags.

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Oh come on.

 

1st I run into a 88 thread with a poster using the moniker 'freakypeople' and then Murky thinks I may have a good idea.

 

You're up to something.... what is it? :wink: :lol: :lol:

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Encouraging you to achieve your own destruc...I mean destiny...is its own reward for us, your good buddies in the 88 fleet.

 

All I ask is that we be able to witness this momentous occasion (and possibly to replay it once or twice while laughing hysterically).

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