Whisker Poles
I am fond of whisker poles. Easier to set and maintain sailtrim underway than a regular or cruising spinnaker. I do not have an Isomat mast on my P42, but the other brand Hunter used (can't recall name as I write this). I was able to locate a car which fits directly onto the track in the front of the mast extrusion. Then I mounted cheek blocks onto the mast above the height equivalent to the length of the extendable whicker pole and at about 4 feet above the deck. A continuous control line runs from the mast car up to the top block then down to the lower block and back to the car. Just above the lower car, a pair of cam cleats, about 6 inches apart are mounte to the mast in line with the control line running between the uper and lower blocks. With the cam cleats facing in opposite directions, the line can be cleated to prevent it from going either up or down and fixing the car in one position on the mast. The pole is clipped onto the car and the inner end is pulled up the mast. The lower end is held onto the front of the mast at the very bottom with a black rubber clip designed for the purpose (West Marine). I also added a swivel block just above the upper control line block so I could attach a pole lift line to support the outer end of the pole while I am attaching the sheets to the pole. The pole I chose is from ACCO in Michigan. It is a variation of the line control extendable pole, but has the added feature of using a winch handle to extend the pole. This makes changing the length much easier, especially if the pole is under load. Hope these thoughts help. I really like my system and its easy to use.
