Chicken Chute

[hoofhearted]

Thanks craig, did you guys ever put up the pink one? 

Yes we put it up.  On really tight reaches , the pink  was awesome, a lot of other boats in PHRF could not carry a chute to the pink one, and we would make gains when they would follow suit and drive way down trying to carry with us.  The staysail was perfect for balancing the helm with it up.  We used it in heavy air on a deep run once, probably around 25-30, and felt the regular chute did better getting us op on plane . In light aire you can almost go to weather with pink up.

Pic below is regular chute in about 18-22kts breeze.  Right during a gybe.  Good times.

 

[JoeO]

... The crew was certain we would loose the rig long before we ever blew up that kite. 

Which is why we stopped using 1.5oz and 2.2 oz kites as chicken chutes on one-tonners in the late 80's... as rigs got spindlier, they would far outlast the rig, esp when the bow slammed into a wave and the boat came almost to a stop - the rig would keep going. We used a 3rd string 3/4 oz for 25+... we'd prefer it blow before the rig. The kite-as-fusible-link theory.

 

[stumblingthunder]

Yeah, the kite you use to decide how long you can survive with a kite up....

Yes, also known as the 'deity' method:  We put them up, God takes them down...

- Stumbling

 

[PinkSpinnaker]

Yes we put it up.  On really tight reaches , the pink  was awesome, a lot of other boats in PHRF could not carry a chute to the pink one, and we would make gains when they would follow suit and drive way down trying to carry with us.  The staysail was perfect for balancing the helm with it up.  We used it in heavy air on a deep run once, probably around 25-30, and felt the regular chute did better getting us op on plane . In light aire you can almost go to weather with pink up.

Pic below is regular chute in about 18-22kts breeze.  Right during a gybe.  Good times.

View attachment 261727

While we are on the subject on what sails are what. The Hot Yellow S2 kite, is that a PHRF or OD kite? Is there any difference in size between the two mains? 

 

[PinkSpinnaker]

Doesn't count as a chicken chute without wire luffs!  Oh and "do not open until 35 knots" written on the bag.

Sailed with a few of these,  never blew one up,  but taking them down in 40+ was guaranteed to get your attention.

Did blow a 2.2 star cut without the wire luffs in a knockdown in 60 knots south of Tasmania though.  Ah the Mewstone Rock Race,  I wonder why they don't do that one anymore.

TUBBY

Jesus, wire luffs? What size boat would that be on? What kind of speeds did you hit in that kind of wind?

 

[Left Shift]

Chicken chute on my largish IOR ride in '81 was 2.2oz., wire luff and weighed enough that we needed to use a halyard and two guys on the pedestal grinder to get it on deck.  Blew it up on the way back from Molokai middle of the night.  That was fun!  Wire luffs come down easier when they are no longer attached to cloth.

Also blew up the blooper and bent the gooseneck that night.

 

[SloopJonB]

Did you win?

 

[hoofhearted]

"While we are on the subject on what sails are what. The Hot Yellow S2 kite, is that a PHRF or OD kite? Is there any difference in size between the two mains? "

   Yellow kite is PHRF, does not measure into OD sails.  No difference in size of Kevlar or Carbon main.  Kevlar main is flatter, and probably better for all around use, we went up in cloth weight to have sail last longer on the Kevy.  Both Carbon and Kevlar mains have heavy air and regular upper batten sets.  Boat is already tricked out.  Actually miss it quite a bit.

 

[PinkSpinnaker]

Which hobie is this? Any more pics?

The blue one, Myasasaur

 

[PinkSpinnaker]

"While we are on the subject on what sails are what. The Hot Yellow S2 kite, is that a PHRF or OD kite? Is there any difference in size between the two mains? "

   Yellow kite is PHRF, does not measure into OD sails.  No difference in size of Kevlar or Carbon main.  Kevlar main is flatter, and probably better for all around use, we went up in cloth weight to have sail last longer on the Kevy.  Both Carbon and Kevlar mains have heavy air and regular upper batten sets.  Boat is already tricked out.  Actually miss it quite a bit.

Myasasaur is a great boat, can not blame you for missing it. We repainted the mast and boom and bought a reaching strut for it. We are in the process of repainting the interior as well, it looks amazing down below. Added a new radio, speakers, vhf, cabin lights, wireless instruments, new mast lights, replaced all the noodles as well. Took the outboard out for full servicing, and replaced the lifelines. Boat is going north and having high bunks fabricated so the boat can be single point lifted. Side note, who sprayed the Vc PE on the bottom?

 

[Jason AUS]

 jackolantern has is the answer  

Fixed it for ya.

 

[TUBBY]

Jesus, wire luffs? What size boat would that be on? What kind of speeds did you hit in that kind of wind?

Used wire luffed 2.2s on a number of boats from 40' IOR 1 toners up to a 65' pocket maxi.

The frightening thing was looking up at one in 40+ knowing that it wasn't going to blow up,  & that you would at some stage have to take it down with all of that bloody wire whipping around your ears.

TUBBY

 

[P_Wop]

There was a twin-ply 2.2 80% chicken chute on Drum.  Yes, two layers of that stuff.  It was a right bastard of a sail to move around as it weighed 400 pounds plus.  Only used it once myself in a Transatlantic delivery - to dry it out and give it a bit of airing, as it was starting to stink - but the boys told me they used it several times in the 85-86 Whitbread and it was a bloody beast.  Boat went better with 2 reefs and a poled-out #2 jibtop.

As above, getting it down was no joy.

Apparently Eric Tabarly had a 4.5 oz Dacron 75% chicken chute on Pen Duick VI onthe 73 and 77 Whitbreads - wire luffs and all.  They blew it out.

 

[OW3]

Fuck me, you'd need to fold those fuckers with an axe to get them back down below.

 

[P_Wop]

Fuck me, you'd need to fold those fuckers with an axe to get them back down below.

Yes, indeed. The clews and head were pretty much un-bendable with all the layers of reinforcement, so the sail went into a big modified jib bag.  The clew and head rings were 6" hoops made of welded 1/2" stainless steel bar, attached to the sail with loads of sewn webbing, just like a heavy jib clew ring.  On the Pen Duick VI Dacron one, apart from the 3/8" wire luffs there was a fourth ring in the middle of the sail, with 3/8" wires leading from head and both clews swaged into it.

When I sailed Pen Duick VI I saw that all the rings had  bent, especially the head one which had stretched out into an oval. There were patches everywhere.  It was blown out several times.

No snap shackles.  A big stainless screw shackle for the wire halyard.  Wire aft guys ended in a swaged thimble, and a 4-foot length of dead heavy jibsheet was used to connect the aft guy to the sail.  To trip, bring the pole forward and down, then hit the loop with an axe.  There were several on deck.  Same deal on Burton Cutter too.

They were hard boys.

 

[DRP]

To answer your question if a chicken chute is a worthwhile investment on a Hobie 33, my answer would be no.   Your 75 oz. will be the faster sail 99.9% of the time.   When there is more wind than your .75 can handle a poled out #2 or #3 will be the fastest set up and will be less likely to break your boat.  Chicken chutes work well on heavier boats that do not get up and go like the H33.  If you are doing point to point races, a jib top is a sail that can be effectively used much more often, giving you a much better “speed” return on your sail investment.

 

[Ballard Sailor]

I've got a sissy chute on my Moore - I've used it a handful of times in 12 years, generally when it's blowing over 35 and each time I tell my crew to never put that sissy chute up again.  Then I forget and do it again.  Its a very nervous sail, both for the driver and its rattling self.

Get a A sail or code zero, I think you may wipe out less.

 

[Kenny Dumas]

Used an old heavy starcut for a chicken chute, which is a very flat cut with narrow shoulders.  As mentioned above, a flat chute really wants to reach and is not stable DDW.  I wasn't real impressed with it's DDW behavior.  

Depending on boat and target use, a heavy non-flat (round?) chute might be better than flat.

 

[SloopJonB]

Yes, indeed. The clews and head were pretty much un-bendable with all the layers of reinforcement, so the sail went into a big modified jib bag.  The clew and head rings were 6" hoops made of welded 1/2" stainless steel bar, attached to the sail with loads of sewn webbing, just like a heavy jib clew ring.  On the Pen Duick VI Dacron one, apart from the 3/8" wire luffs there was a fourth ring in the middle of the sail, with 3/8" wires leading from head and both clews swaged into it.

When I sailed Pen Duick VI I saw that all the rings had  bent, especially the head one which had stretched out into an oval. There were patches everywhere.  It was blown out several times.

No snap shackles.  A big stainless screw shackle for the wire halyard.  Wire aft guys ended in a swaged thimble, and a 4-foot length of dead heavy jibsheet was used to connect the aft guy to the sail.  To trip, bring the pole forward and down, then hit the loop with an axe.  There were several on deck.  Same deal on Burton Cutter too.

They were hard boys.

Are we having fun yet?  :blink:

 

[IMR]

I've got a sissy chute on my Moore - I've used it a handful of times in 12 years, generally when it's blowing over 35 and each time I tell my crew to never put that sissy chute up again.  Then I forget and do it again.  Its a very nervous sail, both for the driver and its rattling self.

Get a A sail or code zero, I think you may wipe out less.

We have an a5 for the moore that is wicked fast in 30 plus. It’s 85% the size of the class kite. 

We also have an s3 that is good over 30 plus as well - we made the switch to ayso kite after we had the s3.