La Cigale - Day 14 - 2 December - Operation Gennaker

Watching another epic battle between Xavier and our foresail this morning, it struck me that our gennaker has something of Moby Dick about it, having a majestic, white body, and being not so much malicious as awkward. Skipper Ahab may beg to differ - it's a bugger to put up - I've seen his lifelines whipped up in the furling sheets on one occasion, and today the beast of a gennaker almost swept him off his feet...

The Skipper writes:
The anti-torsion rope on the gennaker is too small, so you can put 10 turns at the bottom before the top starts to furl. As a result, the top never furls properly and always try to unfurl itself before the clue end, at which point the only option is to bring the whole thing down, partially unfurl it, and raise it that way. Tricky at the best of times. The manufacturer Incidence denies this is the case, but I've now had myself, four sailmakers and five highly experienced crew members agree, so I'm getting grumpy with Incidence and I don't mind naming and shaming them here. Anyway, on the bright side, when unfurled it does work well.

Skipper's First Mate writes:
In other news, the kids made up a new games with the pegs today, and are taking it in turns with the Skipper to attach the pegs without the "patient" (eyes closed) sensing where. It reminds me of "Operation" the childhood game where would-be surgeons require a steady hand to extract bones using pincers, without touching the sides.

Speaking of operations, all our good intentions re. sewing up the secondary gennaker are on hold for now. Sore fingers and strained eyes aside, it seems the nylon is too strong, with not enough give, for the fabric, and so risks tearing it further. Maybe duct tape is an option after all, I'll consult the Skipper once he's out of surgery...