Spinnaker/Whisker Pole

[Ken Juul]

I finally got around to playing with the pole that has been attached to the mast since I got the boat.  I had thought it was a Spinnaker pole.  Since I  don't have spinnaker, there was no hurry to investigate it.  It is 3" dia, 12'extends to 22'long.  This morning looking at some web pages, I guess what I really have is a whisker pole.  Due to it's weight I had a hard time getting it off and on it's mounts sitting at the dock, can't imagine trying to do it on a moving deck.  My only experience with whisker poles was on my C22.  It was light weight, about like an extendable boat hook.  Do I really need a pole this big for poleing out a 155 genoa?  Can someone point me to a site or provide some operating tips?

[Tom P, IMPULSE #233, '86]

Ken & Vicki,

Check out http://www.forespar.com/catalog/whiskerpoles/about.htm

Forespar (and others) say 3" dia is the size pole we should have; and I agree with them...That pole is under one heck of a load when the wind gets above approx 13 knots...

The trick to using the big pole is by using a "topping lift" to handle the weight of the pole so you don't have too...And the adjustable models are much heavier than the rigid non-adjustable models...

The topping lift attaches to the pole bridal, then goes up the mast, through a turning block just below the steaming light, and back down...I cleat mine to a shroud cleat attached to the forward port or stbd shroud (have a cleat on both sides)...

Your mast may already have an attachment up the mast for the topping lift turning block (my C34 did, but not sure if it was a factory... install)...

OR, you could use a spare genoa halyard for the topping lift as well...I prefer a dedicated  topping lift though...  

The pole bridal is nothing more than a line which comes off each end of the pole and is attached to a single ring...So the legs form a triangle off the pole with the ring being centered between the two ends of the pole...Attach topping lift to the single ring...

Setting the pole:
I generally take up the topping lift first to get the pole off the deck...One hand to hoist and take a few wraps on the cleat, other hand to just steady one end of the pole...

Once pole is in the air about 3'-4', I hook the genoa sheet in one jaw, then other end to the mast...

Now just fine tune by adjusting mast eye up or down (if it's on a track) to get the pole horizontal, and re-adjust topping lift so the weight of the pole is not pulling the genoa clew down...

To take pole down, I pop the genoa end first, then swing pole to forestay and drop the topping lift...Stow pole...

In addition to adding a topping lift, you could sell your pole and buy a carbon fiber pole like I did...Your pole probably weights well over 30 lbs, where my carbon weights approx 6 lbs :-)

For length of pole; if you are racing, the max pole length is 13.5' (length of "J", mast to forestay)...But for cruising, anything goes...The 22' might be just a hair long, but is nice to get that sail WAy out there in a light breeze...I don't think you would really want to get if out that far if the wind strength is up...

The adjustable pole has some more advantages though since you can shorten it up and use it while on a beam reach too...You would be amazed at how much speed you can gain by running a short pole while on a beam reach (allows better sail shape)...I can't do that as well with my carbon pole since it is non-adjustable...

Hope this helps,
Tom

[Ken Juul]

Thanks Tom.  The Forespar site provides alot of info.  Got a dock mate that loves to climb masts, a topping lift will be his next project!

[Tweetybd]

Ken,

You might want to do what we've done on Tweety Bird by mounting the whisker pole on the mast with 12-14' of 1 1/4" track.  That way, it's off the deck, the inboard end always is attached to the mast (and you can't lose it overboard like a friend of mine did), and you only have to work with the outboard end  (of course, you do need to raise and lower the pole on the mast-mounted track when you attach/detach or deploy the pole, but it works well for us (however, you also have to buy additional hardware for this setup).

"You pays yer money and you makes yer choice..."

Jon Arck
Fleet 1, SF Bay