I'm looking to use a whisker pole and I need to attach a fixed pad eye ring or a track with a slid car ring to the mast. I'm not sure which is the best choice for my Catalina 30 tall rig. How long should the track be if you think I should attach one to the mast for a slide car ring? Is there advantages to having the slide car or will a fixed pad eye be suitable? Thanks for your input.
- Status
track w/car offers more options
Will you fly a spinnaker, or will you use the whisker pole only to pole out the headsail downwind? The best option is to install the track to be able to adjust the height of the pole at the mast. The track was on the mast when I bought my '83 C-30 and a spinnaker pole was furnished by the PO. I have no spinnaker but use the pole to fly the jib wing-on-wing with the mainsail when sailing downwind. Maybe there is no advantage to the track if you only use the whisker pole to sail wing-on-wing. Hope this helps.
Will you fly a spinnaker, or will you use the whisker pole only to pole out the headsail downwind? The best option is to install the track to be able to adjust the height of the pole at the mast. The track was on the mast when I bought my '83 C-30 and a spinnaker pole was furnished by the PO. I have no spinnaker but use the pole to fly the jib wing-on-wing with the mainsail when sailing downwind. Maybe there is no advantage to the track if you only use the whisker pole to sail wing-on-wing. Hope this helps.
the only advantage for the fixed ring....
is that it's cheaper. A track with sliding car will offer you more options to accommodate various sail configurations and is a worthwhile, long term investment for your boat. My C27 has a 5 foot track starting about about 18 inches above the deck, but I fly a racing chute and often raise the pole to eye level. Pole height adjustment is critical when trimming a spinnaker. Clew height determines pole position so if you have more than one headsail or roller reefing you'll want to be able to make those adjustments. On my boat the 140 has a very low clew. The pole barely clears the lifeline, on the 110 it's waist high at the mast. Don't forget that, at the very least, you'll need a topping lift or second jib halyard to support the pole so it won't pull the sail down, a foreguy is very desireable also. 4 feet of basic T track and a simple sliding car with the ring is all you need. No Harken track, it's proprietary, or ball bearing cars are needed in your application. This track: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|312064|311656&id=735721 and this car: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|312064|846725&id=116666 will work. Finally, you might get lucky and find the track and/or car at minney's or some other yacht surplus outfit.
is that it's cheaper. A track with sliding car will offer you more options to accommodate various sail configurations and is a worthwhile, long term investment for your boat. My C27 has a 5 foot track starting about about 18 inches above the deck, but I fly a racing chute and often raise the pole to eye level. Pole height adjustment is critical when trimming a spinnaker. Clew height determines pole position so if you have more than one headsail or roller reefing you'll want to be able to make those adjustments. On my boat the 140 has a very low clew. The pole barely clears the lifeline, on the 110 it's waist high at the mast. Don't forget that, at the very least, you'll need a topping lift or second jib halyard to support the pole so it won't pull the sail down, a foreguy is very desireable also. 4 feet of basic T track and a simple sliding car with the ring is all you need. No Harken track, it's proprietary, or ball bearing cars are needed in your application. This track: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|312064|311656&id=735721 and this car: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|312064|846725&id=116666 will work. Finally, you might get lucky and find the track and/or car at minney's or some other yacht surplus outfit.
- Status