Something that has always confused me - why do Merlins just let the spinnaker lie under the foredeck in a heap, rather than store it safely in a tube/sock thingy like other classes?

Would keep it out of the way in a capsize, stop it getting tangled with ropes/fittings under the deck....but would it infrige on the crews footroom? Perhaps the front tank gets in the way of the angle?

If you have ever pulled a wet spini in or out of a wet tube, the merlin way makes sence, and the tube lenght would have to come back to aft of the thawt to get it all in.

How about bags and a single pole - could be fun!

did that in my gp crewing day's and in merlind when the down hall comes untied.

Hmmm, hows about a loose bit of netting then, to keep the spinny vaugely contained on one side of the fo'c'stle?

I guess the reason is no one does it, becuase it doesn't cause a problem. Personaly I have never had a problem with it lying on top of the tank, it doesn't go far in a capsize as the halyard and sheets keep the corner up in the bow.

I guess the reason is no one does it, becuase it doesn't cause a problem. Personaly I have never had a problem with it lying on top of the tank, it doesn't go far in a capsize as the halyard and sheets keep the corner up in the bow.

Ain't broke don't fix it

Mags if your finding a problem with the kite catching on fittings etc you could fit a light weight cloth central partition which you may have seen before, keeping the kite away from the strut gear & mast foot. You have I guess had a good look at the bolt stubs etc under the deck, dome head nuts are usefull albiet harder to source.
As for the sock back in the dark ages I raced 505's with these it was like pulling the cork from a reluctant bottle then I bought a new M&W 505 which had a vast tunnel solid chute this made all the differance. So I guess as big as posible and clutter free is my threepeneth, Oh and try not to go swiming!  Barry.

or here is another idea to automatically tidy away at least some of the spinny after a hasty drop and stop it ending up going through the jib-sheet block.  Have a plastic ring attached to a length of shock cord tied onto something up under the foredeck.  Lead the spinny downhaul through this ring.  The halyard/downhaul will pass through it with no problem, the spinny doesn't.  When you have dropped the spinny the bit of shock-cord pulls back the ring and with it the downhaul patch of the spinny back under the foredeck.  It won't pack it all away for you but it does take enough back under to stop you trampling on it and most particularly avoids it getting wrapped round the jib-sheets and pulled through the block.  Only problem is the ring needs to be the right size.  If you can pull some spinny back through the ring, not just downhaul, then it can get stuck with problems for the next hoist!  Occasionally the ring snags either on something else or there's a tangle in the halyard & it gets caught & that needs sorting out, but I reckon it's less trouble than not having it there.  Cost is about £2.00 including the shockcord!!

As someone wot as done more than my fair share of capsizing in more than my fair share of classes, I can say that the Merlin method is as good as any and better than most. The spinny has never caused me a problem when down... with it up, that's another matter!

Thanks guys, I might fit a bit of netting just to keep it away from the underside of the mast ram lever and purchase. I've already got an elastic ring on the halyard tail.

Was mostly curious as to why no other classes seem to do it our way! But of course, Merlins lead....the rest merely follow.  ;o)

I had a little ring and shock cord thing fitted to our last boat - doesn't seem to have made it onto the new one yet - but it worked well.  Just kept it enough out of the way to not have to worry about it.

Mags silicon coated spi cloth used to work best, 1/2" tape round the edge (1" folded)home sewing machine would cope. Barry