How big of a pole do you need?

[Brandon]

Whisker pole, that is. I want to get my dad a pole for his bday - what size do I need? Any reccomendations? Hunter 36 He uses a large jib, I want to say a 150%.

 

[Jim Rushing]

Big Bucks

You will need a Forespar LC12-22UXP-UTR probably. They don't come cheap and the pole is about half of the expense. You will have to have a car for the mast and track for it to go up and down on. Plus all the control lines and a foreguy control line plus whatever it takes to install and control it plus the halyard for the pole. The pole will be about $600 and that is only about 2/3's of the total cost before you are finished. I am putting one on my 35.5 right now and it is a long and expense project.Jim

 

[Frank Ladd]

Definately worth the money

If you dad's boat does not have a whisker pole, then his boat is not running on all cylinders. The whisker pole for the 150 Genoa will definately help him down wind. No boat should be without one. My boat is small so I don't have a track; I just have a ring on the mast. My pole adjusts from 90% to 150% of J.I've worked the fore on bigger boats and the track can be handy. On a big boat you definately want the topping lift for the pole because it can get heavy.

 

[Del Wiese]

whisker vs. spinnaker pole

I have a Legend 37, with a track on the mast and a spinnaker pole with topping lift and foreguy for racing. I also have a whisker pole for cruising. The one I have is on page 1025 of the West Marine catalog, extends to 138" and costs $260. When cruising I don't bother with topping lift or adjusting the pole eye on the mast. I think for cruising you could put a fixed pole eye on the mast and buy the appropriate length whisker pole and spend in the range of $300-$400. Even if you need a longer pole, the 202" pole is $340 and the mast pole eye is in the $15-$30 range. The spinnaker pole is typically a fixed length, the "I" dimension, the distance from the mast to the forestay. The pole is much sturdier than the whisker pole because the loads are much greater. I don't recall (or maybe I don't want to recall!) what I spent on the pole, track and topping lift/foreguy fittings, but it was a lot more than $300-$400.

 

[Alan]

Track??

Jim, Your 35.5 already has a track built into the mast. All you need is the car and control lines for it. No foreguy is needeed, the lazy sheet can be used as a foreguy if needed. I don't understand how you can sail a $70K+ boat and think that a few hundred $ is a big expence when you are giving up 1/3 of the sailing ability of the boat. Sailing wing on wing without a pole is like, excuse the expression, pissing into the wind.