Certainly I agree with Tornado Alive, my experiences are that the spinnaker will help to keep the bows out of the water in stronger winds.

Only real advice is sail deeper in stronger winds

Tornado Alive: You are a wild man.
Wouter: Why do you think a hooter stresses the hulls more? I'd like to know before I take it out in high wind!! Thanks.

If you are still sailing then its not too windy for the kite !, makes life a lot easier in a blow lot less pitching and jumping about windiest I've done it was 35 knots plus on first loch ness race sailing a hurricane 5.9sx a two man boat , if the bows went in got the crew to hang on to sheet and bows would pop out again , if sheet had been dumped boat would have tripped over bows .

Reckon rig loads are much less when flying a kite , boat going much faster and doesn't stop when digging bows , remember when you slow down in windy conditions thats when Sh1t happens and rigs load up . I felt sorry for those sailing loch ness in 5.9s without kites , looked VERY wet and like sitting on a bucking bronco.

The next Loch Ness I sailed solo in a Stealth sxl and flew the kite in 30 knots , once up it was a peach coupled with wings on rudders didn't stuff bows once !

Gybing however with kites in strong winds can be interesting !!

Dont be put off by the spectacle of cats with kites in strong winds , its a lot easier than it would seem , my hat goes off to the poor sods without kites in a blow , certainly wouldn't want to go back to that . THey are the "wild Men " !

Not a snuffer, but rather a furler. I've put a wire luff into the sails I'm going to try, and they'll hopefully furl without a problem if I can get the luff straight before furling. Maybe that'll be a big "if"...

I want to go out tomorrow and try it out, but the wind has just been howling here the past day or so. I hear what everyone is saying about the spin/hooter giving more stability in high winds, and it makes sense, but I still would like to test a new rig for the first time in a little less than 20 knots! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hooters fly with alot higher luff tensions and as such load up the hulls more. The are more like oversize jibs then like asymmetric spinnakers.

Wouter

I guess they do so upwind, but wouldn't they be about the same as a spin when reaching or running?

My experience with a Hooter on an TheMightyHobie18, and on a SC20, was that the biggest drawback of them was the difficulty furling them when it was blowing hard. To get them to furl cleanly and completely, the initial four or five revolutions have to occur with absolutely no tension on the sail. Otherwise it won't develop a large enough diameter to fully furl the rest of the sail; there's a limited amount of furling line that will fit on the furling drum, even with a tapered (to 1/8" dyneema) line. In bigger winds it's hard to blanket the hooter enough to get it started gently. It flogs, putting too much tension on the sail as it furls, creating too small an intial diameter to furl properly. I had to drop the whole mess a couple of times when the wind built to around 20. I could sail it, but I couldn't put it away! I'll be real surprised if an assym spin will furl cleanly, even in no air. Seems like the sail needs a pretty flat cut to furl.

Dave

There's an upper level wind limit???? I never knew that!! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

OK, I finally had a chance to try my new hooter rig yesterday. I was wanting to take it out for the first time on a calmer day, but my day off coincided with hurricane Noel being off the other coast of Florida with resulting winds on our side, and I thought, "Why not?" (Hey, these days are where the best stories are born, right?) At any rate, it was a great shake-down of the hooter, and I'm glad to say that, in 20 knot winds with considerably stronger gusts, my mast didn't snap off and my bows didn't explode. The hulls didn't bury at all and, if anything, lifted a little. I almost flipped gybing a couple of times, but managed to finally make it back in one piece. The result is that I'm thrilled with the setup and now have confidence that I can sail it in any weather that I normally encounter. Can't wait to try it on a more moderate day now and also try a second, larger sail that I've got. One thing is certain, that kind of acceleration from a headsail is definitely addicting! Thanks to everyone for their input on the topic.

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Sorry, I would have need a waterproof camera for that one!