CRUISING SAILS
Cruising spinnakers
Whether your boat is set up with a bowsprit or a traditional spinnaker pole, UK Sailmakers’ Matrix® Spinnakers are designed to make downwind sailing more enjoyable, stable, and efficient.
Photo © UK Sailmakers
Pick the downwind sail that fits how you actually sail.
Unlike racing, where you build a full sail inventory for every wind angle and strength, cruising sailors typically prioritize ease of handling and a smaller, more versatile inventory. Your UK Sailmakers representative can help you select the best cruising spinnaker for your boat, your typical conditions, and your crew.
Asymmetrical spinnakers are more popular for cruising because they’re easier to set, trim, and douse — especially with a sock or top-down furler — while symmetrical spinnakers offer unmatched deep downwind performance for longer offshore passages.
QUICK GUIDE
Close reaching in light air?
Cruising Code Zero
Want cockpit-only handling?
Easy Furl Code D
Reaching and running, no pole?
Cruising Spinnaker
Deep downwind, less rolling?
Stabilizing Spinnaker
Asymmetrical spinnakers
Pole-less sails, tacked to the bow or a sprit — the easiest downwind sails to live with.
Cruising Code Zero
Flat reaching spinnaker designed for close reaching in light air. Especially valuable for modern cruising boats with non-overlapping genoas. The design can be refined to your boat.
Wind speed · 1–16 knots
Wind angle · 45–125°
Materials · Light laminate or 1.5 oz nylon
Easy Furl Code D
A cruising spinnaker with a nearly straight luff that rolls like a genoa. The straight luff makes this sail look like the letter “D.” With a continuous line furler, the sail is very easy to use.
Wind speed · 3–16 knots
Wind angle · 70–160°
Materials · 0.75–1.5 oz nylon
Cruising Spinnaker
Asymmetrical pole-less cruising spinnaker. Sail is optimized for reaching and broad-reaching. Made with 0.75 oz. nylon, up to 1.5 oz. nylon depending on boat size and displacement.
Wind speed · 5–18 knots
Wind angle · 75–165°
Materials · 0.75–1.5 oz nylon
Symmetrical spinnakers
Unmatched deep downwind performance for longer offshore passages.
Stabilizing Spinnaker
Symmetrical cruising spinnaker with an airfoil section that makes the sail more stable and reduces downward forces that can bury a boat’s bow in strong winds.
Wind speed · 2–25 knots
Wind angle · 80–180°
Materials · Nylon
Handling systems that make it easy
Dousing sock (the Stasher)
Does the work of several long-armed crew — with it, the sail can be set, trimmed, and lowered by two people, or by one person and an autopilot.
Top-down furler
A popular option that rolls the sail up from the cockpit. Note that some units can cost as much as the spinnaker itself — worth talking through with your loft.
Continuous-line furler
What the Easy Furl Code D rolls on — bottom-up, like a genoa. Easier than a Stasher and less expensive than a top-down system.
Your colors, at full hoist.
Every cruising spinnaker can carry a design of your own — sketch it in our interactive painting program.