#RIGGING A CODE ZERO SAIL CODE#

For cruising applications many find a girth of 60 to 65 percent and a foot length of 140 to 165 percent is a good target. Racing sailor or cruiser, it’s all about making the girth relative to the angles at which you want to be able to sail. Even the racing rule handicappers are coming around, with many rules now allowing “tweeners” or sails between 50 to 75 percent girth if they are declared and the actual dimensions supplied. There are no rules! You can make the sail as narrow and genoa-like or as broad and deep as you like. For cruisersįor cruising sailors it has always been easier. Often 90 percent of the sail would roll, and the remainder (the top part) would be left hanging. Specially developed furling systems eventually made them more practical, but they were difﬁcult to furl evenly because of their girth. Most of the time they ended up lashed to the deck. That made the sails difficult to douse and hard to stow. In addition, traditional nylon spinnaker materials were too elastic to allow the sail to remain ﬂat, and it was necessary to use composites with high-modulus fibers. The sail challenged the strength of the entire rig. Not only did the sail work like a genoa, but the loads were genoa-like as well.

#RIGGING A CODE ZERO SAIL CODE#

Racing Code Zeros built to this limitation might get a little inside 90 degrees true wind angle, but not any closer. To prevent an “arms race” they imposed a minimum 75 percent girth restriction.

Subsequent treatment of these sails by various handicap rules made the problem even more difficult. While unable to attain true close-hauled angles except in the lightest conditions, the sails were still a vast improvement over a fractional jib in the same conditions. Could a sail this big be made flat enough to sail at very close angles and still fly? The first sails flapped at the back end and tended to carry large amounts of curl in the luff, but gradually the shapes were refined. The wider and larger a sail, the more overall camber it needs or it just flaps. The fundamental dilemma was that shaping was needed to support this extra area. By comparison, a genoa has a mid-girth of 50 percent.

The original Whitbread rule required that the “mid-girth” be no less than 70 percent of the foot length. Asymmetrics function well at relatively high angles, but could they be pushed further? The problem was (and is) girth. So, naturally, creative minds wondered if it was possible to make an asymmetric spinnaker that could sail upwind, or at least nearly upwind. Whitbread rules didn’t allow masthead genoas but permitted masthead asymmetric spinnakers. Thus, Code Zero was the perfect name for a sail that could sail at closer angles than any spinnaker in the inventory. Codes 2, 3, and 4 were used at progressively broader angles. Although every team had their own version by the end of the race, Paul Cayard and the winning EF Language team ﬁrst realized the sail’s potential and got the lion’s share of the credit for its development.įor most syndicates the spinnaker designed for the tightest wind angles was designated as the Code 1 Reacher. For racersĭuring the 1998-99 Whitbread Race, the term Code Zero was coined to deﬁne what was basically an upwind asymmetric spinnaker, its shape and geometry born from the limitations imposed by the class rule. What makes the Code Zero more useful are advances in furling technology, which can make them easier to handle, and the addition of bow sprits of various lengths that help create more space for the sail.

Genoa-powered boats don’t get as much benefit since they already have a good sized reaching option.

These usually are fractionally rigged but have spinnaker halyards that are well above the forestay or even masthead. Ease that non-overlapping jib out on a reach, and there is just not that much sail there to power the boat up. These sails are particularly useful on modern racing and cruising boats which now feature non-overlapping jibs as primary headsails. Often referred to as the “Code Zero,” it is essentially an asymmetric spinnaker designed to act like a large, loose-luffed reaching genoa. Fortunately the last 25 years have witnessed the development of specialty light to moderate reaching sails that are just the ticket. We search for anything that can get us going. Quantum's Dave Flynn dives in to discuss the merits behind this extremely useful and practical sail that should be a part your sail plan.Īs we settle into the dog days of summer here on the Chesapeake Bay, wind is an ingredient often in short supply. Furling technology has come a long way and makes handling this sail a breeze. Code zeros are simple, versatile, and effective on many common points of sail for the cruiser. Code zeros have a permanent spot in the sailing inventory of foiling IMOCA's competing in the Vendee Globe and the VOR65's circumnavigating the Earth, but they're making routine appearances in your local waters on cruising boats too.

Rigging a code zero sail