What is the length of a gin pole?

[David Hall22685]

If I have a Venture 25, and am building my own mast lifting system, and am going to mount the pole on the deck just in front of the mast, how long does the gin pole need to be? I will attach the baby stays to the pole; attach the forestay (or the jib halyard) to the pole and run a line foward to raise the mast with, but am still not sure just how long the pole needs to be. Any suggestions?

Also, I have looked at plumbing pipe, electrical conduit and even a "bull float" extension rod and am not sure the "stoutness" of this pole. Do I need something that would hold up the empire state building or will simple 1.50" conduit work? I would like to find 1.75" but they don't make such a thing. The bull float extension rod is 1.75 but is 6' and $30! What thinkest thou all?

 

[Fred]

Last year I installed a mast raising system on my Mac/Ven 25 (1979). I used the standard mast raising kit that is sold for Macgregors. The aluminum pole is 6 ft long X 1.5 in diameter X 1/8 wall thickness. BTW I also installed a new hinged mast foot. It works well.

 

[Paul Brinkley]

The one I use with my homemade system is just a few inches shorter than the distance from my mast to the bow chainplate. On my boat that distance is right at 9 feet, so I made the pole 8.5 feet. My first one was a very thinwall old flagpole about 1" diameter which folded this year when my son-in law tried to push it up from the middle. The new one I just made is 1" EMT conduit. I wanted to make it from aluminum, but couldn't find any locally and didn't want to wait any longer. -Paul

 

[Freedom77]

What Paul Brinkley said is right.

 

[timebandit]

My pole is around 9 ft. long and is 1 1/2 by 1/8 inch thick aluminum.

It lives hung on the life line when not being used as a gin pole, jib boom, main boom extension to to support the boom tent to the end of the boat, poling off the beach, fending off the dock, feching (with the boat hook taped to it) an erant halyard and maybe part of an emergency rudder.

Attach the stays to the mast, that is what you don't want to swing.