Whisker pole

[HD74]

I have a whisker ,pole that is stored on a track up my mast. I have just started to use it with my jib downwind. I race my boat but have yet to use it downwind. when I race I am always short handed. The lines for the whisker pole are mounted on the mast and don’t come back to the cockpit. This may get a big chuckle but is it possible to position the whisker pole at the correct height for my jib. By this I mean the pole on mask at proper height for jib the and the front of pole attached low at the safety line so that jib can be tacked during racer before downwind leg. Obviously your help will be greatly appreciated

 

[jssailem]

It sounds logical..
I would attempt it on a practice day and see what happens.

I would be alert to the sheets you do not want them to hang up on the pole or the pole control lines.

You do do practice days to test your skills and improve your performance?

 

[Davidasailor26]

Depends on the geometry and how you want to handle gybing. Unless the pole is telescoping you probably can’t get it through the foretriangle without lifting the aft end up high, and “dipping” the front end down to keep it behind the forestay. If you can predict which side you’ll be deploying the pole on it could be worth some testing.

A couple other things to check during the testing -
- Does the foot of the jib still fly alright or does the pole interfere
- Can you keep the pole secure before you use it, and not bouncing or sliding around when heeling and hitting waves.

 

[Joe]

Only one way find out what's possible. try it at the dock, then go sailing. Routing the sheets is the critical thing. you have to take a serious moment to figure out how you want to store the control lines. You are using a top lift and a fore guy like you would on a spinnaker pole right.