Could a sail this big be made flat enough to sail at very close angles and still fly? The wider and larger a sail, the more overall camber it needs or it just flaps. The fundamental dilemma was that shaping was needed to support this extra area. ![]() By comparison, a genoa has a mid-girth of 50 percent. The original Whitbread rule required that the “mid-girth” be no less than 70 percent of the foot length. Asymmetrics function well at relatively high angles, but could they be pushed further? So, naturally, creative minds wondered if it was possible to make an asymmetric spinnaker that could sail upwind, or at least nearly upwind. Whitbread rules didn’t allow masthead genoas but permitted masthead asymmetric spinnakers. ![]() Thus, Code Zero was the perfect name for a sail that could sail at closer angles than any spinnaker in the inventory. Codes 2, 3, and 4 were used at progressively broader angles. Although every team had their own version by the end of the race, Paul Cayard and the winning EF Language team first realized the sail’s potential and got the lion’s share of the credit for its development.įor most syndicates the spinnaker designed for the tightest wind angles was designated as the Code 1 Reacher. What makes the Code Zero more useful are advances in furling technology, which can make them easier to handle, and the addition of bow sprits of various lengths that help create more space for the sail.ĭuring the 1998-99 Whitbread Race, the term Code Zero was coined to define what was basically an upwind asymmetric spinnaker, its shape and geometry born from the limitations imposed by the class rule. Genoa-powered boats don’t get as much benefit since they already have a good sized reaching option. These usually are fractionally rigged but have spinnaker halyards that are well above the forestay or even masthead. Ease that non-overlapping jib out on a reach, and there is just not that much sail there to power the boat up. These sails are particularly useful on modern racing and cruising boats which now feature non-overlapping jibs as primary headsails. Often referred to as the “Code Zero,” it is essentially an asymmetric spinnaker designed to act like a large, loose-luffed reaching genoa.Ĭode Zero Spinnaker Photo Provided By Quantum Sails Fortunately the last 25 years have witnessed the development of specialty light to moderate reaching sails that are just the ticket. We search for anything that can get us going. Information on the individual light wind additional sails and their areas of application can be found here in the polar diagram in our dimension sheet additional sails.An Asymmetric Spinnaker Designed to Act like a Large, Loose-Luffed Reaching GenoaĪs we settle into the dog days of summer here on the Chesapeake Bay, wind is an ingredient often in short supply. The code zero is another light wind additional sail, which perfectly closes the gap between genoa and gennaker. Whether runner (A1 / A2) for broad reach to downwind courses or reacher (G1 / G2) for half wind to broad reach courses or code zero. We manufacture the gennakers according to your wishes. Gennakers are either driven free-flying or on a furling system. Buy a gennakerĪsymmetrical spinnakers are also known as gennakers. There are symmetrical and asymmetrical spinnakers. With a spinnaker in the narrower sense, the center width (the connection between half of the luff and half of the foot) is >75% of the foot. However, spinnakers have their own characteristics that not every sail fulfills. In principle, all sails that are raised before the forestay can be called spinnakers. The spinnaker – or spi for short – is a particularly large, deep profiled foresail made of light cloth, which is used down wind and on a broad reach course to enlarge the sail area.
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