whisker pole

[grady]

I have the Forespar extendable wisker pole. They call out for this eye.

https://www.velasailingsupply.com/fores ... sker-pole/

It is small and no need to remove when not in use. It is out of the way. I have 2 mounted on the mast, one higer and one lower.

Grady my whisker pole came with the plastic ring but I opted to use a metal one , but after watching these vids from Forespar I might mount it & use it for my Spin or Drifter
http://www.forespar.com/whisker-poles.shtml

J

I have the Adj 4 8 I believe. I think they stated you should use the plastic eye because it is sized for the hooks. With the bigger eye it will slide around and put a twisting moment on the end of the hook.

The pad eye I mounted higher is for use with the asym spinaker. The lower one is for the genny.

[Neo]

I think they stated you should use the plastic eye because it is sized for the hooks.

Like this one? .... Looks a bit Micky Mouse to me

https://www.velasailingsupply.com/allen ... t-bracket/

BTW ... Who is "They"

The pad eye I mounted higher is for use with the asym spinaker. The lower one is for the genny.

My Jib Chew is low and my Genny chew is high?

[grady]

BTW ... Who is "They"

Forespar

This one

https://www.velasailingsupply.com/fores ... sker-pole/

[Neo]

Thanks Grady,

Yes I spotted that. It looks plastic but it's advertised as aluminium. A local supplier has it as plastic and it has a plastic look about it .... So do you think two of these (one either side of the mast) would be up to the job?

[grady]

I guess you could mount one on each side. It is designed to mount on the front of the mast and work for both sides. You will never need to pull the pole aft to were the front mounted ring will not work.

[Tomfoolery]

But I didn't know I'd be able to use a Whisker when going upwind too??

I remember reading about, or watching an explanation about, using a shortened whisker pole when going upwind with larger foresails (or larger boats?) to keep the proper shape at the aft part of the sail. As we sheet in the jib, we tend to curl the leech of the foresail because we are pulling it in toward the boat more and toward the aft less. This curved shape or curl can interrupt the otherwise smooth airflow. Using the whisker pole allows you to pull the sail harder in toward the centerline of the boat without curling the trailing edge of the sail - the pole holds it out straight. Now I assume that it would be a smaller pole and/or specially made for this purpose maybe? And I have not seen this done in person, only recall it from something I read or watched. Maybe JudyB or others with much more experience than I have can verify this? Maybe Tom could draw it?

Well, not much to scale, but here's a sail about 50% larger than the WAG of a working jib in the first sketch (clew radius just beyond the mast, and I think the mast is too far aft to start with). Tough job for the pole, and I can see where the compressive load in the pole could be problematic unless it was very heavily constructed (buckling can be an issue).

I too have heard of a pole being used for broad reaching and maybe beam reaching, but beyond that, I don't see it. The puny pole most of us are likely to use on a Mac isn't going to handle much compressive load, and going to a larger pole kind of defeats the purpose of a lightweight pole to pole out the head sail for downwind sailing like wing-on-wing.

Also note that I didn't increase the size of the pole for the genoa (as it were ), so sailing more downwind would require a longer pole than what's shown. There's no scale to this sketch - just free-hand thinking out loud. Maybe too much free-hand, and not enough thinking.

[Neo]

Thanks guys ... some great information here.

I might get a couple of Stainless 316 Pad Eyes ... They are stronger, cheaper and easier to buy over here. Just need to find a way to curve the base/mounting plate a little and then polish them up.... I'm trying to work out if I need a 6mm (0.236") or 8mm (0.315") ring/bar diameter?