Hard vs soft gennaker/spinnaker sock / snuffer

N

Nekaj

New member
28
2
Slovenia
Hi,

anyone with experience of soft (rope & fabric) vs hard (plastic/fibreglass) end of gennaker sock / snuffer .

I have a 135m2 geannaker (asym spinnaker) with sock with hard end - bottom of the sock finishes with a hard plastic end closure. As I have problem with storing (does not fit trough doors and window easily) I'm considering replacing plastic with soft ending.

Images of hard:
s-l400.jpg


and

soft:

spinnaker-sleeve-soft.jpg



Any opinion on difference? one vs other?

Thanks.
 
L

longy

Overlord of Anarchy
6,304
896
San Diego
Hard works much better. if you've got the money, the big boats now use an inflateable ring to get around the storage issue
 
Zonker

Zonker

Super Anarchist
9,140
5,051
Canada
I've used an ATN snuffer on a 1100 ft2 symmetric. Worked every time, and I think the hard oval mouth is key.
 
H

hdra

Anarchist
613
130
Make sure that there is a sleeve on it for the uphaul / downhaul line like on the ATN - we have an old one made by (I assume) whoever made the spinnaker and the lines are external and it's a royal pain in the ass untangling them before hoisting the sock every time. I've used a North Sails branded snuffer on a 72'er that was quite good as well (has the same style of construction) - don't know if they sell them as separate units or just if they sell you the sail. I want to replace the one we have with an ATN when we save up for it.
 
N

Nekaj

New member
28
2
Slovenia
Is the bottom of ATN snuffer soft - made of fabric or hard - made of plastic?
from the pictures on their site it looks soft.
 
C

crankcall

Super Anarchist
1,623
182
Toronto
I've used the soft rope , and the wire hoop and now have the plastic toilet seat. I have not used an inflatible type but having tried everything else its the plastic big funnel for me , goes up and comes down everytime with no stress.
 
Tylo

Tylo

Member
191
108
Sweden
I have some experience with the North Sails snuffers, they use a hard, oval fiberglass (or carbon in bigger sizes) ring and work really well. The rings also have a rubberized edge to prevent it from scuffing the rig or decks or anything else it may contact.

I also know that C-Tech in NZ makes a snuffer with an inflatable ring that I've heard good things about, but the complexity is higher and as a result the price as well. It's very cleverly called the "SnuffAir". I have never tried one of those but I would think the lightness of the inflatable ring, along with it not being solid would mean 1) less weight aloft when sailing and 2) less risk of damage from the ring.

Link to the SnuffAir: https://www.sailbattens.com/products/snuffair

I know there's one from a company called Oxley as well but I have no experience with that.

That being said, when I've used a regular snuffer, I had the impression that the weight of the ring helped stabilizing the sail and also "assisted" in a way with snuffing it, which the inflatable one might not do as well. I'd like to try a SnuffAir though but I currently don't have a sail to snuff and I'm also not sure I could justify spending like at least twice as much money as a regular snuffer for a boat the size mine is.
 
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