I recently had the opportunity to take part in two days of dedicated spinnaker training as part of the Sail Canada curriculum. The course was run out of Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club with Diane Reid as the instructor.

There were 4 student in total onboard a Beneteau 25 Platu called Enigma.

Day one was split into theory in the morning followed by 4 hours of rotating thru spinnaker launches and douses with no gybes. Day two was entirely on the water with the addition of gybe management.

Key takeaways were launch workflows, boat handling down wind, douses and kite repacking and perhaps most importantly – efficient and safe positioning on the boat. I drastically improved my Spi workflows afterward on the Shark and was able to use new skills in my spring foredeck position on Papillon.

If your interested, check these links for more course information:
ABYC Programs: https://abyc.ca/learn-to-sail/adult-programs/
Sail Canada Program: https://www.sailing.ca/keelboat-cruising/

Sail Canada – Keelboat Spinnaker Course Outline