whisker pole size

[Doug Dannen]

I'm looking to buy a whisker pole for my Oday 272. I need to know how to determine the size I need?

 

[Dave]

Forespar

Go to the West Marine site and look for recommendations. Otherwise go to the forespar web site and get their recommendation. It says a LC8-14 or LC10-18 for heavy air with a genoa.for boats up to 28dave

 

[James]

Difference between whisker and spinnaker poles

Doug, Dave gave a great suggestion. The Forespar web site gives details on the types of poles and also the differences between whisker and spinnaker poles. I have used this site before and it has lots of great information. The link is provided below.

 

[Vic]

Do you really need a wisker pole ???

Probably the only real value is racing where you are trying to max out non spinnaker performance ... other than that a new pole is nearly half the price of a cruising spinnaker and no where as useful or good.Mine is a 2 in tube about 9 feet long that extends maybe to 16-17 ft. ... and believe it or not it is almost as much of a problem to set up and retrieve as a cruising spinaker. after one season one jaw corroded and had to be replaced.VicSeven

 

[Tom Ehmke]

Rule of thumb

Use the "J" distance which is the distance between the headstay and the front of the mast. In the case of a 272 that distance is 10'-6". I use an adjustable whisker pole. It stabilizes the jenny when I sail downwind. You can adjust the pole from that baseline dimension depending on the wind speed. You should rig a downhaul from the pole end. It helps keep the shape of the jenny and prevents pumping of the sail. I use nylon line and lead it back to the cockpit from a snatch block mounted at the base of the stanchion post.This is not a sophisticated rig, but as someone else has pointed out, a spinnaker pole is used to fly a spinnaker and requires much more tending than a downwind setup for a jenny.If you need rig dimensions for your 272, try pyacht.com.Tom