How To Do a Mexican Takedown Also Called the Kiwi Drop

The best way to pass boats when rounding a leeward mark to port is to do a Mexican takedown. The Mexican allows you to carry the spinnaker right into the rounding while also preventing the sail from falling into the water. You’ll be the inside right-of-way boat, entitled to mark room over boats doing leeward takedowns. Here’s how to do it:
Going into the turn, the spinnaker is over trimmed pulling the foot right up to the deck. As the driver does the smooth left turn, this well-choreographed sailing ballet results in the spinnaker inverting and now laying on the new windward side of the jib. Here are the “steps:”
1. The bow team grabs the foot of the spinnaker as it collapses onto the windward side of the jib,
2. The pit person smokes the halyard,
3. As the sail slides down the jib onto the deck, the bow team gathers it in,
4. The pit person then blows the tack line, and
5. The sail gets stuffed down the forward hatch with at least three quarters of the sail on the deck before going upwind.

[@kryssbow-sr3hz]

I'm Australian, Kiwi is slang here for New Zealand. Most of us living on the East coast with NZ to the South East it's likely a similar geographical reference. My skipper jokes it's called a Kiwi drop because if you stuff it up NZ is where the boat ends up 😂

[@G.Shaver]

This is a "gybe douse". Re the name "Mexican", I had always understood it was from the Newport to Ensenada race. For decades, the finish line was at the entrance to Ensenada harbor*, and if you didn't douse and gybe ~immediately~, you often had an unpleasant windward return exactly when you wanted to be DONE already. So, the gybe-douse maneuver was widely associated to that locale. (* changed to closer to The Coral now)

[@xiangyangchen8706]

very good， thanks

[@SteveDennison-u7h]

we just used to call it 'a windward drop' often praticed for when it it would be useful

[@atakd]

How does this not foul the kite on the spreaders?

[@UK-Sailmakers-International]

Make sure your spread tips are taped or have boots on their tips. After doing scores of these drops over the years, I have never had a spinnaker caught on the spreaders. The most common poor result is when you try to button hook the mark. The spinnaker does not start down early enough resulting in the boat trying to sail upwind with most of the spinnaker still up -- which is slow!

[@G.Shaver]

This is an "all or nothing" maneuver - no hesitation, no "taking it slow". Pit pre-flakes the halyard so it 100% goes out clean and fast. As the boat turns, the moment the main covers the kite, the clutch is opened and the sail crashes to the foredeck like a falling curtain. Spin' should never get near the spreaders.