Svenska IF-båtförbundets forum

Hi all!

apologies if I write in English but I don't speak Swedish, a fellow Italian recommended me this forum since I just bought my very first boat, and it is a beautiful IF from 1981 (finally, after so many years of dinghies and renting)
Since I am based in Germany and the boat is in Västerås, I have too much time to think about things and too little to practice them, at the moment.

One thing that puzzles me is how to manage the spinnaker boom: the previous owner was not using a down hauler, yet it is something useful, so I was wondering how to do it on my pretty Abigail.

On some Facebook pages and youtube videos, I've seen that many use barbers, which I imagine are not 100% ideal when going too close to the wind but should do their job. However, I don't have a hook on the side of the hull (apologies but I really lack the knowledge of English sailing terms, I know them only in Italian at the moment) nor the stopper next to the winch, the latter I suspect easier to install. Also, I assume the barber goes through an additional block on the genoa rail, right? I have attached two photos of this solution

The other question I have is related to my boat, that has a free block on the mast that I don't understand what it would be for, and a little hook on the deck whose role is unclear to me (two photos attached). I have been told that some would put a block on a fixed-length rope attached to that little hook, and the down hauler would then pass from the spinnaker boom through it and to the mast, to reduce load on the deck. The downside I see is that if I don't have a stopper where to house the down hauler in the cockpit, I should block it on the mast - perhaps right above the free block as you see in the photo, but then as soon as I rotate the boom I will need to go and change the regulation. Alternatively, I could just put it through the mast and lock it, then the angle would be constant and so I would go there less times. Yet the questions are, is that block on the mast designed for this job? and what is then the little deck-hook for?

Thank you so much for your help! I hope I will meet some fellow sailors in Sweden this summer! :D

Edoardo

In the beginning I sailed spinnaker with a traditional spinnaker pole downhauler. I tried it at the mast base, and at an eye on the foredeck, like yours. Each position has its merits and drawbacks. Finally I removed the pole downhaul completely and put on barberhaulers instead, as that was what others were using. That really was the trick, and I have never looked back.

With barberhaulers I can sail every spinnaker course without any problem, even half wind. I have never used a spinnaker pole downhaul since putting on the barberhaulers.

Using the barberhauls as downhaul was developed for the IF during the 90-ties and was an influence from the H-boat class.

In the beginning barberhauls were seldom rigged on the IF-boats, but it was found that that use of such gave a safer gybing and possibility to sail without pole the last 100 metres before rounding the leeward mark.

I have not used the downhaul for the last 30 years, but I am keeping a downhaul tackle in the boat to be used if sailing half wind ał long leg in very fresh wind. Using a rigging point mid fordeck it may stabilize and unload the pool and reduce risk of breaking the pole by compression.

Thank you all! I think I will then adopt the hybrid mode as suggested of both barbers and downhaul. For the formers, where would you tie them, provided that my genoa rail arrives 20cm back of the stays, and so not as the photos I've seen online?

Thank you so much all!

Best,
Edoardo

Are the photos published by yourself in this thread from your boat?

According to various internet sources the barber hauler was introduced already in the 1950s by the Barber brothers on the Lightning which they raced in the waters off San Diego. From the beginning as a way to improve the jib trim possibilities.