TECHNICAL BOWSPRIT POWER FOR DOWNWIND SAILING

Bowsprits are all the fashion on new boats these days, but do you need one? Graham Snook looks at how a bowsprit can make your sailing easier and faster

- Graham Snook

Walk down any marina or boat show pontoon and you could be forgiven for thinking there was some sort of nautical jousting competition afoot. Older yachts too can get in on the act with retrofitted deck-mounted retractable bowsprits, but do you really need one and do they improve performance?

There’s nothing new about bowsprits – sailing ships have been using them for centuries as a means of creating more real estate from which to fly canvas as well as to balance a vessel’s rig – but they are more popular on cruising yachts than ever before. With advancements in sail-handling technology, a furling spinnaker can now be set up in port by one person and stay rolled up until it’s ready to be used. At that point, it’s a case of unfurling it, sheeting in, and you have a spinnaker! Taking it down is almost as easy: ease the sheet and take in on the furling line until the sail is neatly rolled away and perfectly tamed, a feat that would have been unmanageable by a single cruising sailor a few decades ago.

WHY SO POPULAR?

Their popularity has mostly been brought about by modern yacht design and the quest for better accommodation. The IOR rules of the 70s did much to determine hull shape, but the demand for more space and accommodation has changed yachts forever.

How furling asymmetric spinnakers work