I have recently encountered a problem I never had before - my spinni is twisted for the upper 4 feet (1-1.5m) or so, and will not unfurl, even after a gybe. The next time it is raised it might go up cleanly, or it might stay twisted. My crew can tell when he's raising it whether it will set or not, as it is harder to raise on those occasions when it won't set. We've use the spinni for a while with no problems before this, so we're puzzled. It is quite old, and not very slippery any more.

Any ideas?

It could be the age of the spinnaker - or it could be that the halyard is twisting when running through during the hoist. Try running something different for the halyard. Alternatively, you could do what they sometimes do in mono-hull land and put a swivel at the head of the kite.

Once it does get twisted, I've found that easing the halyard off a little seems to help it get started.

I donno if I'd try it with an old chute, but try grabbing the leech and pulling straight down while the sail has air in it.

Sounds like your hoist block on the mast has siezed. Check that it is running really freely under load. Sometimes it can appear ok but once you put a load on it, it stops turning. The result of this is that the halyard twists as it passes over the block and that is then imparted to the spinnaker.

Thanks for the ideas - as it happens I have just bought a new halyard and a new block. I'll let you know if the old spinni behaves itself with these in place.

Just for info, the spinni head block is on a swivel, suspended from a foot or so further up the mast, but was showing signs of wear in the side plates (on the inside faces), so given your input I now think the halyard most likely was not swiveling as it should have.

Cheers

As the kite gets older it will do this more often, as we run higher halyard tension on cats it's more of a problem for us than the skiffs.

coat your kite with Holmenkol "SEALnGlide + glaze" it is a super slipery coating that last ages (more than a season) it also seals the kite again so the air isnt going through it. check it out here (not suggesting you bu from here but it has info.)

http://www.specialisedmarine.com.au/inde...8&Itemid=40

Probably not the age of yor halyard, its the quality. make sure that your new one is Dyneema [you need to pay about £1;50 /meter]
Where do you race N6 no. 400 I haven't seen it around for a while - good boat
Paul

Thanks the tips and comments.

I sail mostly on the Dee Estuary (we have the Wirral to our East and Wales to our west.) I have just come back in from a ride on the Nacra (still known as Animal). It's great for taking the heavier chaps out to introduce them to the sport. I sail the Spitfire most often, but it's a treat to have Animal in my back pocket.