I sail with my son. He has a slight muscle disorder that..to simplify terms,, weakens him. He always has problems when it comes to snuffing the chute. Not that there is any rigging problems, but the problem is getting the "wad" of chute past the Aluminum (Hobie) hoop at the end of the pole. Once the patches have cleared the Hoop, it snuffs without difficulty.
I've sprayed completely both sides of the sail with Sailcoat. This helped but isn't the remedy. I also spaced the two chute patches apart about a foot with a knot to help relieve the amount (Width) of the sail going through the hoop at once.
Short of getting a different (larger?) hoop or mid pole system, I have considered making the retrieval line that goes through the patches and has a small block on the foot end. Then running a 2:1 snuffer line.
Has anyone tried anyhting like this? DO you think it may work? Just searching for ideas.
There is a differance in the sail plan from the first I-20 spins to now. The original chute had nylon straps over the top grommet, as well as a rigid disk section over both grommet areas. This made for that large "first entry mass" to heave thru the snuffer hoop.
Now the "new" chutes have gotten rid of the rigid disks, rid of the nylon straps, and simply have a grommet. One simply ties a little spectra thru the grommet with a stopper knot on both sides, and ties the snuffer line to that. The lack of "disks" prevents a bundle, and does indeed snuff with a little less effort.