How you mount the net when in use depends to some degree on how you're headstay is configured: if you're use a roller furler it may mount differently than if you're using hanks or a foil. The entire point is to prevent a gap opening up between the headstay and the net through which a portion of the spinnaker can sneak and form a wrap.
For hanks you can leave the net permanently attached to the stay for the duration of the race and the net does not need to be all that taught. (e.g., you can hank the net to the headstay if you use headsail hanks and the net simply rides up the headstay when you hoist a headsail; when the headsail comes down the net descends into position and you're in business).
For a foil you can set the luff of the net into short sections of luff tape (connected to each other by a line) and hoist the net up the luff tape after dousing the headsail and before unleashing the spinnaker.
If you're using a roller furler then you'll need a way to keep the luff of the net bar tight such that the net stays alongside the furler and a gap does not open up between the headstay/furler and the net luff.
I constructed my spinnaker net from 1" flat (not tubular - flat weighs less) nylon webbing, and it's worked out fine. The cross-webs (fore & aft lengths that lead from the headstay to the mast) are just sewn to the luff and leach of the net. I attach the net luff to a tack hook set at the base of the headstay and hoist it up on a spare jib halyard, make it bar tight on a winch, then lead the net luff back to the base of the mast and tie it off.
I expect that it would not be difficult to make a net from round line rather than webbing, perhaps attaching the cross-webs with knots or splices. Somehow sewing seems simpler, at least if you have access to a sewing machine.
I divided the mast height by 12 and made that many cross-webs (about five feet apart on a sixty foot rig). So far that's been sufficient to prevent the spinnaker from wrapping through the fore triangle.
One note on running the net back to the mast while gybing - you may discover you have problems with the net fouling the spin pole topping lift. Running the net forward to the headstay for a gybe (not aft to the mast) makes it simpler to gybe the spinnaker and easy to re-attach at the base of the mast.
If you're switching out from the spinnaker to a headsail you may be tempted to swing the net luff out of the way by tying it off at the base of the mast and then leave it there. I had a problem when I left the net hanging out all night that way - in the morning I found some of the cross-webs had become tangled up in the cap shroud, which necessitated a lot of goofing around and tugging on the net from the foredeck to get the cross-webs to unwrap themselves (it would not have been good to climb up to the second spreader to undo it manually). So now I douse it completely if I'm not going to re-rig the net straight away.
- rob/beetle
I'm about to start making my spinnaker net, and I have a question for people who've used them before:
What kind of material should it be made of? From the little information I've found, it seems like nylon webbing is pretty popular, but I was thinking of using the core of an old spinnaker sheet with a busted cover, which would be really light. Seems like it could really be made out of almost anything. Is chafe a big concern? Strength? Spreading the contact area with the chute?
I was planning on tying off the leading edge of the net to the bow pulpit so that it extends forward of the forestay, and keeping a bungee on a hook at the mast base to stow it during jibes.
Any other tips or thoughts on the ideal spinnaker net would be appreciated.
Adrian
