# new cruising Chute vs used Racing Spin



## vas (Jun 28, 2014)

Hi all,
This is more a discussion without clear answer but still i would like to watch the debate to understand the various view points and parameters...
So the question is following. When purchasing my old 28ft boat there was a radial head cruising chute included. This was almost never used it spent probably some decades in the bag. So the cloth is crispy almost as new.
Meanwhile i had luckily a pal that offered me his old spin that is similar sized and matching. This used to be a briliant performance full star cut racing spin. Only that this one is clearly used the cloth is softened with couple of patched. Still in shape excellent though.

So the question here. How much is the impact of the cloth quality with regard to airtightness, water repellent etc that potentially a non racing spinnaker will perform better or equally with a used racing spin??

What is your view??


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Is the 'racing spinnaker' a symmetrical? Do you have the hardware and rigging to properly run it? Are you racing? A Star cut is usually more of a reaching spinn than a deep DDW one, is that going to be really useful? Or do you mean a tri radial cut?


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## vas (Jun 28, 2014)

thanks 
Yes i mean a symmetrical spin. in both cases.
I am club racing as much and often as my time and budget is allowing.

Yes i mean a star cut.the triradial in my opinion has three vertical panels in the centre. 
So indeed this is a point that probably on a reach the star cut will stand better. i could use then the radial head on a run.

I will also try on the water actual boat speed on the same day with both spins.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

vas said:


> ....the triradial in my opinion has three vertical panels in the centre.
> ..


I think you meant horizontal panels...

Try both.. if they are different cuts then you have options as your AWA changes around the course.

The term 'cruising spinnaker' to me means an asymmetrical 'gennaker' or whatever the brand name may have been.

Other than perhaps the material used I'm not getting the difference between a 'cruising' or a 'racing' symmetrical spinnaker for any given boat.

I think stability and the ease with which it flies is another factor in choosing which works best.


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## vas (Jun 28, 2014)

yes horizontal.

Ok indeed cruising doesnt mean much.
That why i wrote Radial head.

So the newer one is a Radial head like this: (cant upload link)

the older one is much more sophisticated sail and indeed star cut.

i think that on a run maybe the first will perfom better as the cloth might be important factor while o a reach the form is more critical....

Very academic discussion though.....


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## rckfd (Dec 3, 2015)

A race has never been won or lost by the cut of the sail but the cut of the crew handling it. 

I don't know your abilities but I'd use the old used one for the learning curve and on real windy days if you're a salt. If the crisp sail was stored out of the sun the cloth should be okay the thread probably will be where you might have problems.


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## Stumble (Feb 2, 2012)

The construction method, star tri radial, etc just tells you how long the sail will last, it really doesn't say anything about the design of the sail itself. For a symetrical chute as a general rule the larger the shoulders the more DDW the sail was designed for, while narrow shoulders and more area low allows for a tighter luff for reaching. 

The trade off is that large shoulder DDW chutes are more difficult to trim and take a lot more work to get set correctly. 


The cruising chute is likely more of a reacher designed for ease of trim and not best performance while the old racing chute is more of a runner. But different racing programs made different trade offs on the sail design. It isn't uncommon for a well funded racing program to have a reacher, runner, and deep runner all of the same weight for different conditions. 

Basically there just isn't enough information here to know.


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## vas (Jun 28, 2014)

thanks all,
I see you focus more on design than on age/use.
My concern is, among others, that the more used cloth has lost its impregnation, thus is less airtight and so provides less power. I just cannot tell confident if this is noticeable....

The shape you feel the speed difference not so easily


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

vas said:


> ....
> My concern is, among others, that the more used cloth has lost its impregnation, thus is less airtight and so provides less power. I just cannot tell confident if this is noticeable....
> 
> ....


It's not.....


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