Laser mast as whisker pole?

[NickNap]

I remember reading this can be done - any forumites done it? (Have recently been given an old laser topmast and fancy giving it a go).

 

[MoodySabre]

PM Cantata - he has

 

[Billjratt]

I tried a windsurfer mast, but it was far too bendy except in almost calm conditions.
Hopefully a Laser has a stiffer pole.

 

[William_H]

Whisker pole

Much depends on how big the boat (jib) is and how long the pole is.
I use the top of a windsurfer mast as a main spin pole but then boat is small.
For a bigger boat ie over 30ft mast head rig then a long pole which forces the jib out flat and at about 45degrees will take a lot of load. However if you are satisfied to have jib out just a bit more than it might set on its own (goosewinged) then there will be very little load. Easily done with a human pole.

So I would advocate you try the laser upper mast but don't have it too long. ie many people use a spin pole which is too long the pole often extending out further than the clew itself which is Ok but puts a lots of stress on the pole. So I would suggest the pole be about as long as the beam of the boat at the mast so when attached to the mast it extends about half beam out from the gunwhale. depending on the sail type and size even this may be too long.

You can use a spin pole end fitting to go onto the snotter on the mast and make a slot in the other end with a sheave fitted. You should have a lock of some sort to hold the sheet captive. Or just use 2 spin pole end fittings. You will also need a saddle in the middle to attach a topping lift. But eveen that is not necesary in a short whisker pole. good luck olewill

 

[simonfraser]

i use a carbon windsurfer mast for my bowsprit, chopped it in half and put one inside the other to increase the stiffness.

 

[Pete7]

Nick, you might want to price up the cost of the end fittings first as the pole is the cheap bit, I was thinking about going down this route then went and bought a second hand pole which saved all the faffing around. They come up regularly on the "for sale" forum.

http://www.zsparsuk.com/spipoles.html

Pete

 

[Cantata]

PM Cantata - he has

No he hasn't, it was a windsurfer mast, glass with carbon reinforcement.

 

[maxi77]

I remember reading this can be done - any forumites done it? (Have recently been given an old laser topmast and fancy giving it a go).

I did this on my last boat, the biggest poblem was finding end fittings that fitted the pole. I even used an old topper boom for the pole on a Seawych.

 

[moluag]

I remember reading this can be done - any forumites done it? (Have recently been given an old laser topmast and fancy giving it a go).

Yup done this on my boat, in 1999 i was working in a house in the Portsmouth area and lying in the garden was a broken topper mast so i bought it for a tenner and cut it down to about 8ft, the end fittings cost about £40 they fitted perfectly without any mods, its still going strong today.

 

[moluag]

I remember reading this can be done - any forumites done it? (Have recently been given an old laser topmast and fancy giving it a go).

see piccie

 

[LadyInBed]

any forumites done it?

I made an adjustable lightweight pole from an old aluminium rotary cloths line pole and a TV pole from B&Q.
The TV pole just slid into the cloths line pole, I cut about 2ft off the TV pole and pop riveted it to one end of the cloths line pole, the other end is adjustable.
I got two plastic (Delrin?) piston ends from Force 4, they were not very expensive, around £18 each.

 

[Ludd]

CAUTION

Ran this idea past an engineer friend of mine a while back. His advice was that carbon fibre poles that had suffered impact damage could shatter under compression loading.

Keeping it short would minimise risk,or go for fibreglass reinforced?

 

[Albert Ross]

Yup, I did this a few years ago. Laser mast top section plus a pair of pole ends from ZSpars. PBO published it. It made a cheap and very easy to use pole, good as a whisker pole but not very strong .. never used it above about F3-4 in case it bent, snapped and impaled someone.

 

[NickNap]

Thanks guys, will go for some zspars ends and do it
Nick

 

[robertj]

hope they are better quality as my son goes thru them like no tomorrow

 

[Searush]

hope they are better quality as my son goes thru them like no tomorrow

Well, I weigh over the recommended 13st & do my best to break Laser masts & can't. Is he sailing it with the mast sticking up or down? It should be up. Or is he failing to get under the canal bridges?

 

[robertj]

you can joke searush but i think 3 in a year now

 

[robertj]

oh one centre board and boom vang fitting

 

[maxi77]

you can joke searush but i think 3 in a year now

Sounds like he needs to learn how to avoid death rolling. Having to pay for your own top mast sections makes learning faster.

 

[Nudge]

I built a spinnaker pole out of a section of old 505 Z-spar mast - the one that is round section with the rivetted on track- track removed. One end came from a boat jumble for a fiver and needed to be turned down to fit. The other end I made from stainless which made one end a bit heavy!!

That pole has been used for racing on two boats (27 & 30 feet) over 23 years - you should see it bend in a F6 with the kite up!!! It has just been replaced with a new one - £40 at boat jumble, and it was new.

So - yup the laser mast will do the trick; as has been pointed out the ends are the costly bit. But - if you look around you should be able to acquire one for a lot less hassle.

Nudge