Whisker pole

[bawlmer]

Fellow sailors. I went to the boat show and saw a whisker pole at a great price so I bought it. I finally had a chance to use it yesterday and it worked well. I have not yet decided on how or where to stow it but that will be first on the agenda this spring. The manufacturer (Forespar) has chocks for various places. I would like to know if you have a whisker pole and if so where do you stow it? From experience are there places that I should NOT stow it? Also as far as deployment any and all advice as what to do and not to do will be greatly appreciated. All wisdom welcome.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Don't store it vertically. What happens is the lower piston gets clogged and won't open. Best way is horizontally on stanchions.

As far as use, tie a small length of appropriately sized line through the jib clew cringle and learn how to jibe by dipping the pole instead of disconnecting it and swapping it over. Helps if you have an adjustable ring on the mast.

 

[Calif. Ted]

I use the stanchion mounts, just watch the placement so it won't easily snag the jib sheet when not in use.

 

[joker460]

I have a mast mounted whisker pole. No problem with Sticking. Used to mount on stanchion mounts but almost lost it overboard.
I find it easy to single handle with it on the mast.
Here's a video showing the ease of using a mast mount.

Good Luck

 

[BarryL]

Hey,

I bought a pole this year and used it a few times when racing. I bought the forespar chocks and mount the pole on the stanchions. The chocks work great. Regarding usage, I'm still learning, so I don''t have much advice to offer.

Barry

 

[shemandr]

Congratulations! You can regain enjoyment of downwind sailing. I would use a stanchion mount system. But, I've been on boats that store in the cabin or on the deck. I haven't seen up the mast yet. Jaws up or down - I've been on boats that specify either. Extension? You have to learn this. There are limits for PHRF racing. But sometimes for reaching angles the pole is more like a reaching strut and gets the sheeting angle outboard far more than outboard rail sheeting can. In this case it would not be extended greatly. On deeper angles the pole is extended more, maybe to its PHRF limit, to get the clew out as much as possible. The overall principle is that with a pole you can make the shape of the jib the designed shape of the sail and thereby enjoy the advantage of lift even on a reaching or even broad reaching angle. You may only have a few feet of flow over the luff of the sail but that's still to the good. Then there's wing on wing sailing. If you are sailing by the lee with the pole, you can see a reverse of flow over the jib the see the tell tails on the leach flow backwards toward the luff. That is still lift and a good thing. It takes a delicate hand on the helm and is for lighter winds but without a pole it's not possible.

 

[rgranger]

I have a mast mounted whisker pole. No problem with Sticking. Used to mount on stanchion mounts but almost lost it overboard.
I find it easy to single handle with it on the mast.
Here's a video showing the ease of using a mast mount.

Good Luck

I could not help but notice that he was deploying in a dead calm....

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I bought the telescopic pole from Selden that is a spinnaker pole at design length and has 2 settings that are extendable for use as a whisker pole. I just bought stanchion chocks because I find that genoa sheets tend to get hung-up on anything that is mounted low on the front of the mast. I am afraid that anything untethered tends to fall overboard so my first step for deployment is to attach the topping lift to the bridle before releasing the chocks and then clipping the inboard end to the mast ring. I haven't installed a dedicated topping lift yet, so I use a spare halyard as a lift for now.

 

[bawlmer]

Thanks to all for your responses. I usually sail single handed so I have to be efficient. I tried playing with different mounting arrangements. I tried the mast but there was just too much hardware on the forward face of the mast to get it to sit correctly. AIso with Stu's input I think I am going to go the stancion route. I also used the spare halyard as a topping lift. I am learning how to deploy this and being very careful without having to use the other great deal I got at the show (Kent auto inflate life vest). I attach the spare halyard first before I do anything so I can retrieve it if it tries to go in the drink. I was lucky enough the boat came with a track mounted ring so I can adjust for height. Once hooked up I pole it out and lock it. I went wing and wing for about 2.5 NM on my way back in Saturday. I did not have a preventer rigged so I had one hand on the helm and the other on the main sheet to avoid the dreaded Jybe which tried to happen twice. Thanks again for all the helpful info. I am sure I will have more to ask in the Spring. I am hauling out on 11/9 and my work schedule does not provide for a whole lot more sailing this year.