I have never used a whisker pole for a jib or a spinnaker. I want to get a pole and I need to add a pad eye to the mast of my Hunter 31. The heavy duty one that slides up and down the mast with a control line costs a little over $250.00. The Stationary ones are more like $30.00. What do I need? If I don't need adjustability, how high do I mount the pad eye?
Whisker pole
- Thread starter Catnip
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Depends
On the cut of your sail and the height of your lifelines. This is how I did it and it works great. Lot's of first places this year. On a calm day, unfurl your genny all the way. Connect your whisker pole on the clew, push it outboard of your lifelines at a 90 degree angle to fore aft line and line up the other end with the mast so as to clear the lifelines. You want the whisker pole to be as close to horizontal as possible. If the clew is already higher than the lifeline than raise the pole on the mast until you get close to horizontal. Tim R.
On the cut of your sail and the height of your lifelines. This is how I did it and it works great. Lot's of first places this year. On a calm day, unfurl your genny all the way. Connect your whisker pole on the clew, push it outboard of your lifelines at a 90 degree angle to fore aft line and line up the other end with the mast so as to clear the lifelines. You want the whisker pole to be as close to horizontal as possible. If the clew is already higher than the lifeline than raise the pole on the mast until you get close to horizontal. Tim R.
Adjustable Inboard Ends
Catnip have advantages. You can gybe the jib more easily, plus, on a boat your size (anything over 25 feet, too), it's MUCH easier to set the pole by keeping the inboard end high, connecting the outboard end to a jib blanketed by the main with the clew on the fore deck, and then deploying by lowering the inboard end. If it's at all windy, it'll be very hard to either click the inboard end on the ring and try to get the outboard end onto a jib sheet, or vice versa. Lotsa load is involved. I just learned two weeks ago about a nifty idea for gybing a jib with the whisker pole (probably old hat for many of you): add a ring to the clew of your jib (metal or line). Hook the outboard end of your pole to that, NOT a jib sheet. Gybe by raising the inboard end of the pole, move the jib clew down across the fore deck, and let it out on the other side on new tack. Never have to disconnect the outboard end of the pole from sheet to sheet. It may be well worth considering the extra cost. If you buy the pole and then don't use it because it's too difficult to deploy and/or use, what good is that? Good luck, Stu
Catnip have advantages. You can gybe the jib more easily, plus, on a boat your size (anything over 25 feet, too), it's MUCH easier to set the pole by keeping the inboard end high, connecting the outboard end to a jib blanketed by the main with the clew on the fore deck, and then deploying by lowering the inboard end. If it's at all windy, it'll be very hard to either click the inboard end on the ring and try to get the outboard end onto a jib sheet, or vice versa. Lotsa load is involved. I just learned two weeks ago about a nifty idea for gybing a jib with the whisker pole (probably old hat for many of you): add a ring to the clew of your jib (metal or line). Hook the outboard end of your pole to that, NOT a jib sheet. Gybe by raising the inboard end of the pole, move the jib clew down across the fore deck, and let it out on the other side on new tack. Never have to disconnect the outboard end of the pole from sheet to sheet. It may be well worth considering the extra cost. If you buy the pole and then don't use it because it's too difficult to deploy and/or use, what good is that? Good luck, Stu
Good question, Catnip 
I've been pondering the same thing. Taking either one of the first two responses alone, I could be swayed accordingly, but now I'm still undecided, but leaning towards the adjustable inboard end, if the extra cost is less than $250.
I've been pondering the same thing. Taking either one of the first two responses alone, I could be swayed accordingly, but now I'm still undecided, but leaning towards the adjustable inboard end, if the extra cost is less than $250.
First off, you cannot use a whisker pole for a spinnaker, they just aren't strong enough. The advantage of a whisker pole with a genoa is the adjustable length. As the AWA moves forward the pole moves forward too, but this means increasing the length of the pole to retain sail shape. The inboard end of the pole(either) needs to be adjustable to keep the pole square to the mast as the pole height changes. The only way to do that is with a movable car.
Alan, do you carry 2 poles?
The adjustable inboard end seems to be the most practical in either case.
The adjustable inboard end seems to be the most practical in either case.
What
As I am new to the world of sailing, and all the new terms. What,why and when is a whisker pole. Thanke the newbe Suds
As I am new to the world of sailing, and all the new terms. What,why and when is a whisker pole. Thanke the newbe Suds
Yes, I have both, in fact I have a 3rd. I constructed a retractable bow sprit to fly my asymetrical. This really makes a lot of sense for cruisers who do a lot of off wind and down wind sailing. I was unsure about the design, but figured it was worth a try, well it works GREAT!
what when and why a whisker pole
A whisker pole is a aluminum pole that is attached between the back corner (clew) of the front sail (jib) to hold it out and away from the mast, to better catch the wind when your boat is sailing with the wind more from behind it than from the front or sides. (off the wind or downwind or running). The attached picture shows the whisker pole mounted without the jib. It has a toppin lift to hold it up, and a trip line to release the outboard end from the clew of the sail or the mast pad ring on the mast. It is usually set so that it is directly opposite the angle of the boom. That is, an imaginary line looking down from above goes straight through the length of the boom and continues through the length of the whisker pole on the other side of the mast. You can just barely see the boom in the lower right of this picture. On a very small boat like mine (17') it can also double as a spinnaker pole to hold the clew of the spinnaker.
A whisker pole is a aluminum pole that is attached between the back corner (clew) of the front sail (jib) to hold it out and away from the mast, to better catch the wind when your boat is sailing with the wind more from behind it than from the front or sides. (off the wind or downwind or running). The attached picture shows the whisker pole mounted without the jib. It has a toppin lift to hold it up, and a trip line to release the outboard end from the clew of the sail or the mast pad ring on the mast. It is usually set so that it is directly opposite the angle of the boom. That is, an imaginary line looking down from above goes straight through the length of the boom and continues through the length of the whisker pole on the other side of the mast. You can just barely see the boom in the lower right of this picture. On a very small boat like mine (17') it can also double as a spinnaker pole to hold the clew of the spinnaker.
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