Whisker Pole

[najada]

Hello,
Trying to decide on a pole for my Hunter 27'. Forespar 7-15 seems too small, however the 10-18 may be too large. I use a 155 genoa.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Larry

 

[Jackdaw]

Whisker poles are typically sized to be equal (or less) tha the boats 'J' measurement. Pole makers size the tubes to match that. Get one that matches your J and you should be good to go. In addition, PHRF racing rules also penalize' longer than J' poles.

 

[Doug13104]

Spinnaker poles are sized to the J measurments. Whisker poles should be sized to the length of the foot of your head sail. That is why they are adjustable for different size head sails

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

A Sunfish mast is 10'4" which is what my H25 spinnaker pole is made out of. It is 2" tubing and Forespar pole ends fit it perfectly.

 

[Alan]

Yes, spinnaker poles are set to 'J' dimension but the whisker pole needs to be adjustable from 'J' to '1.8J'. If your headsail is a 150 you will need the 1.8J setting on the pole as the breeze goes aft, smaller as the breeze is further forward. The diameter is a factor of strength of the pole.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

I have never used a whisker pole to pole out on more than one or two settings, and there have always been enough alternate places to hook the boatside end that a fixed-length pole will do the trick. One time we actually used a 6-ft Beckson fixed-length boathook, simply parking the sticky bicycle-grip handle right on the side of the mast. Worked fine.

 

[kbnj1]

I made a real cheap pole out of a sturdy adjustable paint roller extension pole for my 26.5 before making a real one after fitting a spinnaker. Might be a good way to experiment with length if you're not racing (PHRF penalizes anything over "J"). It works great in light air, is extremely light, and if it goes in the drink, no big deal (one did during a race). I found an adjustable extension pole with a softer plastic "base" endcap with hanging hole, cut a notch in the end just smaller than the mast eye so it could snap in place (thus no good for heavy air), cut off all but the straight section of a roller and ground it smooth to push into the jib clew hole. My "real" spinnaker pole (basically the same thing as a whisker pole but with uphaul/downhaul bridle) is the good section of a damaged Laser mast with 2" forespar composite pole ends - very nice. Good luck!

 

[Lost Parent]

measure what you should have and get a proper whisker pole have tried alll the different poles and none worked as good as a proper pole I got a 10/18 for my Catalina 30 with 135 Geny