Hi all

Raced on the 349 today on a 3 lap around the bay race and had a bit of a mishap on the second lap when we hoisted the spinnaker and when it was fully up the snap shackle on the halyard opened and the spinnaker dropped on to the deck

Not sure why this happened but perhaps during the hoist the ring on the release pin snagged on something

Anyway we did the second and third lap without the spinnaker (it was only a short downwind leg) and after the race when we were back in the marina (it was blowing 20 knots on the river) one of the crew went to the top of the mast in the boson's chair to get it back down

This got me thinking is a snap shackle the best way of attaching the halyard to the spinnaker or would a conventional shackle be more secure

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Regards Don