Telescoping Spinnaker Pole

Aug 4, 2009
204
Oday 25 Olympia
My Forespar telescoping control-line spinnaker pole needs a new control (extension/contraction) line. The inboard end has a cleat for the line and is fastened with a machine screw and a rivet, suggesting a disassembly point. However, there are other rivets fixing the end fitting to the tube as well. It's a puzzelment as to how to get to the end of the line that is inside the tube. The Forespar website wasn't of any help but some of you certainly must have some ideas. You haven't failed yet.
Many thanks in advance for your suggestions as to how to replace the control line, George
 
Sep 25, 2008
1,096
CS 30 Toronto
Tie a bead of metal chain to a fish line. Hold the pole vertically and drop it in carefully. Use a small magnet on a stick to fish the metal chain out. Then feed your line through. No need to take it apart.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,044
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
if the pop rivets are aluminum, it is a very simple matter of drilling them out, inspecting the interior of the pole and then installing the ends again with pop rivets. I don't know what is inside the pole at the ends, but it might be worthwhile inspecting.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
A telescoping pole is a whisker pole, not a spinnaker pole. It should only be used with a sheet to hold a clew of a sail, and never with a guyline to hold a clew (or a tack) to windward.
 
Aug 4, 2009
204
Oday 25 Olympia
My Forespar telescoping control-line spinnaker pole needs a new control (extension/contraction) line. The inboard end has a cleat for the line and is fastened with a machine screw and a rivet, suggesting a disassembly point. However, there are other rivets fixing the end fitting to the tube as well. It's a puzzelment as to how to get to the end of the line that is inside the tube. The Forespar website wasn't of any help but some of you certainly must have some ideas. You haven't failed yet.
Many thanks in advance for your suggestions as to how to replace the control line, George
WOW!!! You guys are quick. Thanks so much.

Alexo 38----the fish line with metal bead and a magnet is a good tip to keep in the tool box for other applications as well.

Scott T-Bird----drilling out the rivets may well be the way to go. I think I'll try the inboard end with some trepidation. It's a 10' to 18', 2-1/2" diameter, pole and must be expensive.

Jackdraw----the control line for the whisker pole still needs to be changed out.

Thanks again, George
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Jackdaw---Sorry about the misspelling, couldn't find the edit button.
George
Hey no worries, I've been called worse! ;^)

I wasn't trying to be pedantic by pointing that out; if you were (as it seems) just calling it the wrong name; that's less of a deal. If you were using it wrong however, then its important because people could get hurt.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,044
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Jackdaw, I'm actually glad you brought that up because I have been tempted to purchase a telescoping whisker pole for both purposes. Is that not such a smart idea for my small boat?

Or ... this product offered by SBO from Seldon.

http://shop.sailboatowners.com/prod.php?14110/Telescopic Spinnaker Pole

Advertised as a telescoping spinnaker pole, they have 4 settings.

My J dimension is 10.5 feet. I am thinking about the model that has a design length of 11.5' with adjustable lengths from 9.8' to 17.2 feet. This seems to be the range I would most want, but I'm concerned that the "storage length" of 9.8' is not appropriate for spinnaker use. Otherwise the 11.5' might be usable for spinnaker but not kosher for racing.

The other option is to get the 9.8' design length model that ranges up to 14.7'. That way, the design length is legal for the spinnaker use (but not optimal).

What do you think? (sorry for the highjack but the question seemed to be answered....)
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Jackdaw, I'm actually glad you brought that up because I have been tempted to purchase a telescoping whisker pole for both purposes. Is that not such a smart idea for my small boat?

Or ... this product offered by SBO from Seldon.

http://shop.sailboatowners.com/prod.php?14110/Telescopic Spinnaker Pole

Advertised as a telescoping spinnaker pole, they have 4 settings.
Hey Scott,
Well, first a direct quote from Forespar.

Note that the telescoping whisker poles cannot support the tack loads of an asymmetrical, as these loads are far greater
than the clew loads when the tack is set on the bow. In essence, trying to set the tack of an asymmetrical sail on a
whisker pole is the same as trying to fly a spinnaker. Telescoping whisker poles cannot take these increased loads. A
fixed-length pole of greater diameter is needed for this purpose, usually made of carbon fiber.
Selden will say the same thing. The pole advertised in the link you mention IS a whisker pole. I'm not sure why the SBO store calls it a spinnaker pole.

Spinnaker poles can come under huge compression loads. Smaller boat less than bigger boats for sure. Can you oversize a whisker pole and use it as a spin pole on smaller boats? Maybe. On our First 260 (with 600 sqr ft of spinnaker) I would not try it; the pressure on the pole in a blow is huge.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
just my 2 cents.... the whisker poles are sometimes of the twist lock variety...and are not as strong as a solid or pinned type, so I could see the wisdom in the quote by forespar pertaining to whisker poles
the so called "spinnaker" pole as seen in the link is a pinned pole... and they will hold a tremendous amount of pressure.
I have never used a spinnaker myself, so I have very little to offer other than the strength of that type of adjustment, and that I have seen the pinned poles used in that application....
 
Dec 19, 2006
5,809
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
Just Did

I just did it and you must take apart the end where you tie off the line on cleat,
drill out all the riverts and slide off the end and you can see how to replace
the line when the poles are all the way in.
I unriverted both ends to slide the inner pole but may not need to take both ends to see how to replace the line.
make sure you try it out before riverting new reverts,the line is hard to replaced
with out taking apart and if you go to forespa web site for drawing how end of line is secured inside pole.
Nick
 
Dec 19, 2006
5,809
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
3 poles

It is a 2 piece poles sliding into each other and there is a smaller 3rd pole inside
that the line goes on the end pulley and than the end of the line is secured and you need to take apart to replace no other easy way.
Nick
 

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Jackdaw, I'm actually glad you brought that up because I have been tempted to purchase a telescoping whisker pole for both purposes. Is that not such a smart idea for my small boat?

What do you think? (sorry for the highjack but the question seemed to be answered....)
Well, since this is a hijack, I'll jump in and reiterate Jackdaw's points... they are two different animals, essentially. Here's the deal, if you only sail with one headsail, you can basically exist with one length whisker pole.... which is based on the foot length of the headsail. If you fly a spinnaker then the J dimension will control that pole's length. So.....why not simply build a fixed length whisker pole and a spinnaker pole and carry both? Unless you're using carbon fiber, it is relatively inexpensive to purchase the end fittings and match them up to the appropriate sized tubing.
 
Aug 4, 2009
204
Oday 25 Olympia
Hey no worries, I've been called worse! ;^)

I wasn't trying to be pedantic by pointing that out; if you were (as it seems) just calling it the wrong name; that's less of a deal. If you were using it wrong however, then its important because people could get hurt.
Just a bit of follow up on safety concerns. Considering the entire system involved, Pole, Mast fitting, Shrouds and Forestay, which should fail first? Wouldn't a collapsed pole be the least threatening? If the mast fitting failed wouldn't the pole be an arrow in a drawn bow? And the loss of standing rigging certainly threatens the mast. And, isn't there something to say for a weakest link being that which is easiest to fix? What am I missing?
As for the control line replacement, perhaps it should be sized to limit the loading on the pole! And that is about as far out on the limb as I should go.
LOL and Cheers, George
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Just a bit of follow up on safety concerns. Considering the entire system involved, Pole, Mast fitting, Shrouds and Forestay, which should fail first? Wouldn't a collapsed pole be the least threatening? If the mast fitting failed wouldn't the pole be an arrow in a drawn bow? And the loss of standing rigging certainly threatens the mast. And, isn't there something to say for a weakest link being that which is easiest to fix? What am I missing?
As for the control line replacement, perhaps it should be sized to limit the loading on the pole! And that is about as far out on the limb as I should go.
LOL and Cheers, George
What you're missing is the fact that using a whisker pole as a spinnaker pole makes the whole system unsafe. In a well designed system (using a spinnaker pole), the first thing to fail 99.99% of the time will be the SAIL.
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
What you're missing is the fact that using a whisker pole as a spinnaker pole makes the whole system unsafe. ....
If either poles were unsafe, they wouldn't be used at all. YB,YC says Stu.
 
Aug 4, 2009
204
Oday 25 Olympia
What you're missing is the fact that using a whisker pole as a spinnaker pole makes the whole system unsafe. In a well designed system (using a spinnaker pole), the first thing to fail 99.99% of the time will be the SAIL.
I've buckled 3 or 4 whisker poles on boats of 33 feet or less by improper usage and in every case the total damage was suffered by the pole alone. I still can't see how it made the whole system unsafe.
Lauzy lauzy me, I must be getting thick headed in my old age, George
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
I've buckled 3 or 4 whisker poles on boats of 33 feet or less by improper usage and in every case the total damage was suffered by the pole alone. I still can't see how it made the whole system unsafe.
Lauzy lauzy me, I must be getting thick headed in my old age, George
Really??

You buckle a couple of poles? Those poles ARE part of the system. One part fails; the whole system fails. I might be getting old too, but I think I learned this in Intro to Engineering 101.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
To answer the question regarding which part of the system should fail first, I would say the whisker pole. I'm not sure if I would include the extending line as part of the whisker pole. But maybe because if that parted the pole would collapse with relatively little harm done. I definitely don't want the forestay or shroud to fail -'nough said. The mast ring for the pole or track? Maybe not too serious but potentially a complicated repair especially if the ring track pulls the aluminum mast mounting hardware.
Whisker poles don't usually have anywhere near the pressure on them as a spinnaker pole - hence the larger section of tube for the spinnaker pole. And, if you wanted or it were legal to extend the spinnaker pole as you might a whisker pole, you would need an even more beefy pole.
So a whisker pole failing, at about $700 replacement, isn't the worst thing that can happen. That line failure is looking pretty good now.