DaySailer.org Forum

Hey all:

A sailing friend suggested I rig up a whisker pole for the jib while downwinding. He's an old Navy guy, and suggested a practical and simple broom handle with a couple of aluminum rods sticking out the ends, one to go in the jib clew cringle and the other to go in the fairlead by the mast..... or so he thought. I don't have any kind of hardware by the mast that one could insert a whisker pole rod, only the halyard cleats by the cabin aft edge. I suppose I could use the little holes in the cleat sides for this purpose...

What, and exactly where, would one place here? Would a simple little fairlead attached to the deck near the mast suffice? Would something attached to the mast be better?

Thanks in advance,
Carlos

Hi Carlos -

These are pics of what rightfully is a Spinnaker pole, but I intend to use it as a fixed length whisker pole--you get the idea.



Ideally, you need the fittings for each end of an adjustable twist-lock pole with a length of 4' to 8' or so and a spinnaker pole ring bracket

http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d6000/e5216.asp

to attach to the mast about 3' above the deck (also makes a convenient place to attach the ends of the halyards). An aluminum painting pole with the ends replaced might just work--

http://www.doityourself.com/invt/4600730#

The sailing elite want $100 for a small finished spinnaker pole and 3 times that for an adjustable whisker pole!!

See this link for the fittings...about 1/2 way down the page.

http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d3000/e554.asp

Good luck!

Geez - now I really feel stupid. I've got one of those attachments on my mast already. I thought it's function was to clip the halyards to when the sails were down.

So all I need is a pole with some kind of attachment hook for that spinnaker ring - and poke the other end through the jib leech cringle.

Thanks!

Carlos

Carlos,

You will likely find that the pole ring is 48" up the mast, which is where the specs and measures require it for racing in sanctioned events. Not that it matters if you are not racing nor planing on selling it in the future to a non racer, but these boats hold their value better if everthing is kept within the specs and measures. It increases your resale value, and keeps your boat 'legal' should you or a future owner want to race in a sanctioned event.

Having said that, the whisker pole should be 74" long.

The full specs and measurements document is available on this site at http://forum.daysailer.org/pdf/dsbylaw3.pdf

It is under the Day Sailer Association drop down menu above, under handbook.