  Context. In the context of a large campaign to determine the system
parameters of high mass transfer cataclysmic variables, we found VY Scl in a
low state in 2008. Aims. Making use of this low state, we study the stellar
components of the binary with little influence of the normally dominating
accretion disc. Methods. Time-resolved spectroscopy and photometry of VY Scl
taken during the low state are presented. We analysed the light-curve and
radial velocity curve and use time-resolved spectroscopy to calculate Doppler
maps of the dominant emission lines. Results. The spectra show narrow emission
lines of Halpha, Hbeta, HeI, NaID, and FeII, as well as faint TiO absorption
bands that trace the motion of the irradiated secondary star, and Halpha and
HeI emission line wings that trace the motion of the white dwarf. From these
radial velocities, we find an orbital period of 3.84 h, and put constraints on
binary parameters such as the mass ratio M2/M1 of 0.43 and the inclination of
15 deg. With a secondary's mass between 0.3 and 0.35 Msol, we derive the mass
for the white dwarf as M1 = 0.6-0.1 Msol.
