Let me start first by stating, I opt not to have a spinnaker since I sail
single-handed most of the time. Second sailing in the confined waterways of
the Pac. NW. a spinnaker run normally is relatively short and hardly worth
the trouble (my opinion).

That said: I don't have a spinnaker pole on board but realize I need a
whisker pole for my head sail (on roller furling). My boat is cutter rigged,
plus I have the ability to release the staysail stay and move it back out of
the way when necessary.

I'm about to build a whisker pole and the extrusion I have is 15 ft long. I
have enough room on the mast for 15-18 ft of track without moving any
hardware.

The mast is ~16 ft from the stem plus the bow sprit is 4'9" beyond that. The
staysail stay is about 18" behind the stem. I have enough room to dip the
pole under/behind the staysail stay if I restrict the length to around 16-18
ft.

I plan to store the pole vert. on the mast.

Even though I have roller furling for the head sail, I have several sizes
and often change, depending on the wind predictions and size/experience of
the crew.

What would be the determining factor for a light weight whisker pole??

Recommendations appreciated.


--
Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Steve wrote:
... I need a whisker pole for my head sail (on roller furling). My boat
is cutter rigged, plus I have the ability to release the staysail
stay and move it back out of the way when necessary.

I'm about to build a whisker pole and the extrusion I have is 15 ft
long. I have enough room on the mast for 15-18 ft of track without
moving any hardware.

You will never need this length. Storing a 15 foot pole on the mast should
only require 10 feet or so of track, etc., when the height of the pole in
use is taken into account.

The mast is ~16 ft from the stem plus the bow sprit is 4'9" beyond
that. The staysail stay is about 18" behind the stem. I have enough
room to dip the pole under/behind the staysail stay if I restrict
the length to around 16-18 ft.

This gives "J" in the neighborhood of 20 feet.

I plan to store the pole vert. on the mast.

Even though I have roller furling for the head sail, I have several
sizes and often change, depending on the wind predictions and
size/experience of the crew.

See comments on collapsible poles below.

What would be the determining factor for a light weight whisker
pole??

Here is what Forespar has to say:

http://www.forespar.com/catalog/whis...sizerecomd.htm

The table is pretty comprehensive and should give you a good start.

However you have an approximate "J" measurement of 20 or so feet, and for a
single-hander that means a handful of pole, not matter how you look at it.
As you know it's usually not too difficult setting up the pole in light air,
but once the breeze comes up these monsters can be a handful to stow.

All in all I would consider a rig with some sort of collapsible pole, even
though this might mean buying a purpose-built item. You
could then use it for the staysail and various headsails. Also, I would
give strong consideration to some sort of topping lift (similar to spinnaker
poles) with a pole of this size. The last thing you need is this thing
dragging in the water at 5 or 6 knots.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...

All in all I would consider a rig with some sort of collapsible pole, even
though this might mean buying a purpose-built item. You

I have a collapsible 4" Forespar pole I bought used but it is way-to-heavy
to consider handling singlehanded (68 yo.). I I never installed it and want
to sell it to someone local. For now, I just want to make up something for
my summer trip.

could then use it for the staysail and various headsails. Also, I would
give strong consideration to some sort of topping lift (similar to
spinnaker
poles) with a pole of this size. The last thing you need is this thing
dragging in the water at 5 or 6 knots.

I plan to have topping lift. My last boat had a nice spruce pole with a
topping lift but the inboard end was secured at a fixed location on the mast
and it was stored on deck.

Yah! I kinda figured I had plenty of room for the pole/track on the mast. I
have 12 ft of 1 1/4" alum Tee track on hand and will begin installing it as
soon as I figure out how high above the deck I want the inboard end, when in
use. Any suggestions on this height??

--
Steve
s/v Good Intentions

looking at the Forespar site, I see I should have a 12-22ft line control
pole (#402200). That would only be 27 lbs. I could handle that.

However the list price is almost $900. Way out of my budget for this season.
(still have to pay for the rigid boom vang from Garhauer.)

I think I will proceed with a fixed length (DIY) for this summer but will
set up all my hardware for the ultimate Forespar recomended pole.

Maybe I can find someone to trade my telescoping spinniker pole for
something closer to what I need for a whisker pole.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Steve wrote:
looking at the Forespar site, I see I should have a 12-22ft line
control pole ... the list price is almost $900. Way out of my budget ...
I think I will proceed with a fixed length (DIY) for this summer
but will set up all my hardware for the ultimate Forespar
recomended pole.

I agree that Forespar has never been "bargain-priced." Still I have used
their gear for decades with few problems. The issue is whether or not these
things make any sense economically, but then, does sailing make sense
economically? Probably not, still we do it.

Another possibility is to stow the gear either on deck (which is a "pia" to
fit), or using stanchion-mounted gear. I use these plastic
stanchion-mounted fittings for the whisker pole and they work well. Not
perfectly, but well enough.


--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...

Another possibility is to stow the gear either on deck (which is a "pia"
to
fit), or using stanchion-mounted gear. I use these plastic
stanchion-mounted fittings for the whisker pole and they work well. Not
perfectly, but well enough.


If I use the Forespar collapsible pole, the shorter length would be much
easier to store on deck or on the stanchions. However, while doing a lot of
downwind sailing, I would like to leave it stored on the mast while for
windward work, I could always put it in a deck or stanchion storage.

I really don't need any more weight or windage on my mast. (mast steps and
oversized rod rigging is enough to cause her to heal over under bare poles,
at the dock.)

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Steve wrote:

I really don't need any more weight or windage on my mast. (mast
steps and oversized rod rigging is enough to cause her to heal over
under bare poles, at the dock.)

I have always thought that twin poles stowed on tracks on the mast looked
good, but they represent quite a bit of windage and weight in the wrong
place. They also require some expensive running rigging and hardware in
many cases. The idea of twin jibs downwind sounds good, but putting that
idea into effect with no chafe, not an excessive amount of windage, twin
headstays, etc., etc., is pretty hard to carry out. Besides this rig tends
to roll in heavy seas and I don't particularly like the motion.

The newer idea of poleless spinnakers and jibing downwind is probably as
good an approach as any these days if a conventional spinnaker is too much
to handle.

As a last resort you could always rig yards and square sails (smile).

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

Armond Perretta wrote:

Steve wrote:

looking at the Forespar site, I see I should have a 12-22ft line
control pole ... the list price is almost $900. Way out of my budget
... I think I will proceed with a fixed length (DIY) for this summer
but will set up all my hardware for the ultimate Forespar
recomended pole.

I agree that Forespar has never been "bargain-priced." Still I have
used their gear for decades with few problems.

Not me. Every Forespar item I've used has proven to be junk. The latest
frustration is a whisker pole that pops off the track. There doesn't seem to be
anything wrong with it, except that the tolerances are sloppy. Their end
castings and track stops always break. I've had trouble with their spinnaker
poles, small boat whisker poles, and their tiller extensions too.

Other sailors I know concur. Whenever we're shopping for something, the "Geez,
why don't they sell anything but Forespar," is an often heard refrain. It's one
of those companies with established advertising and distribution that won't go
away or improve, no matter how much competition there is.

Matt O.