Appropriate luff, asymmetrical ?

[brackish]

I'm in the process of evaluating cruising spinnaker options, and am getting a bit of confusing information regarding appropriate luff.  The best deals are on the standard stock sails.  However, you are stuck with luff changes of about five feet at a time on the standard charts.

Max luff measurement on my 23 would be about 27'-8" but that would be to the deck and the sail generally flies a foot or so above the pulpit, right?  You also have to allow for the luff to be curved when down wind, requiring more luff length without, having to adjust the tack too high.

Additionally, don't you lose some at the top if you have a deploy/douse sock?  The North guy said 18" or so, but that seems like a lot.  I noticed Comfort and Joy's picture when flying the asymmetrical indicated some allowance, but not sure how much (Skip, where are you). 

So it seems that you can subtract from max luff, the distance from the bowsprit to about a foot above the pulpit and the amount of loss at the top for the sock and add back the amount necessary to curve the luff and bag the sail for downwind.  I think my 23 can live with about a 25'-8" to 26' with about 300 plus or minus total square feet. Am I looking at this properly?

[Craig Weis]

Yes but the asymmetrical spinnaker top with the sock doesn't drive the boat, being sort of small. I'd say no trade off.
My spinnaker tac is a fancy rubber band with a Q/D on it attached about 6" away from the bow pulpit tube when not stretched out. I think of this rubber band as a shock absorber. The sheets to the stern cleat.

I've flown the 3/4 ounce spinnaker in some pretty heavy wind and have yet to pull the bow pulpit out of the deck. When things are cooking it's a scary feeling but what a blast. My spinnaker is in the hole under the house. I'll have to dig her out, open it up and put the tape to it.

The only problem with the spinnaker on the CP-19 is switching tacs. I have to go forward to do that with the tiller dogged down. If me and my PFD go over the side while sail solo...I'm done for.  Rule of 50-50-50. Fifty minutes in 50 deg F water at age 50. Adjust as any of these number change. It's important that the port and starboard tacs be color coded red/green. And have long enough port/starboard sheets to remain on the stern cleats, while being either a windward or lee sheet.

Bare in mind that the waterline to top-O-mast on a CP-19 is 25 foot. A bit higher for your CP-23. Need to interpolate. I think the sock takes up about 10" vertical. And I think that the sock can be crunched up even more. But I don't pull it that hard up because it interferes with the Harken furler.

skip.

[brackish]

Whoops, should have read it to the end.  You think it may be about ten inch allowance for the sock.  if so ignore below, thanks

Skip, I don't think I was very clear.

If you don't have a sock, the sail is hoisted to until the head reaches the halyard block.  If you do have a sock the sock yoke is attached to the halyard and the sail is attached to a line in the sock?  this to allow for the sock to bunch above the head of the sail?  The length of the line between the sock yoke and the head ring attachment is what I'm after.  An estimate, not necessary to pull it out.  The 18" quoted by the North guy seems like a lot.  I'm not concerned about losing the distance from a performance standpoint, I want the sock to facilitate single handling, just trying to see if I can use one of the lower cost, stock sails.

Or maybe I'm wrong about how this works.