Newbie question; How do I fit a whisker pole eye to a mast like this?

[Simon F]

Hi Sailors,

I've bought a Beneteau 24 which has no fitting on the mast for a whisker/spinnaker pole, and riveting a pad eye to it is complicated by the fact that the mast seems to be designed with a kind of 'T track' built in to the extrusion as though the idea is to use a sliding car with the eye on it. (see pic) There's a bit near the bottom, where the top of the 'T' is narrowed, which would allow the car to be slid into the groove.

There's a Beneteau 26 in the marina near mine with the same kind of mast and (lo and behold) it has just such a car with a locking mechanism in situ. (see other pic) Seems to be what I need - except I can't see such an item anywhere on the online chandleries and I've been unable to identify the mast manufacturer.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

All the best

Simon.




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[Minerva]

The Bene first 24 I owned had a z spar mast - yours will be the same.

This looks to be (close to) what you want;
ONLINE STORE | zspars

That said, I'm pretty sure we never really moved the eye so a riveted one / one tapped into the mast would probably be fine

 

[Simon F]

Thanks Minerva. I'll give them a ring.

 

[William_H]

A spinnaker pole needs to be able to operate from right angles to centre line right around to forestay either side, so the base inevitably must face forward. I think with Beneteau the pole is stowed vertical against the front of the mast so the attachment with pole attached goes down to deck level for stowage while for actual use with a spinnaker it is raised up the track to make the pole horizontal to the spinnaker tack.
Now a whisker pole used to pole out the jib always goes to near right angles to centre line. You can use the spinnaker pole fittings (and pole) but the loads end up forcing the base side ways. Not good. Ideally 2 fittings one each side of the base of the mast would be ideal. Called a snotter around here. Depending on the fittings of the whisker pole and ring on a base would do fine. ol'will

 

[Simon F]

Thanks William,

I appreciate you taking the time to make that clear for me. So a couple of pad eyes fixed to the mast on either side would probably be enough to be going on with. And would avoid having to attach anything to the track thingy on the front of the mast. Would you say the pole ideally needs to be horizontal when using it with the jib? If so, I'll have to work out the position on the mast for the pad eye by experimenting with the pole and guys on a light wind day. I'm considering the Forspars telescopic whisker pole -

Forespar Telescopic Whisker Pole | Force 4 Chandlery

All the best

Simon.

 

[William_H]

The whisker pole in the link certainly looks like a rolls royce of whisker poles. Not a thing I would buy. Old wind surfer masts are great and you can buy fittings to suit you and the pole. https://www.whitworths.com.au/ronstan-spinnaker-pole-end-38mm
Yes interesting question about height of pad eyes. The jib sheet will probably want to rise higher than you want. To keep it lower will tighten the leach so keep the top part of jib working rather than fall away. (forward) I don't think actual angle of the pole matters so much within reason. You might find pole fouls the life lines ro you amy use the life line to help hold down the jib sheet. So best bet is to get a pole and try poling it out. You can hold it in position while deciding just how high to fit pad eyes. or I guess about 40 or 50 cms above base of mast.
With a whisker pole the length can vary a lot. A long pole will push jib clew out to near right angles to c/l giving max sail area to the following wind. However this puts a huge load on pole. A shorter pole will hold jib out less, so less drive but with a lot less strain on pole and still keep the jib stable o the opposite side to the main sail.
I occasionally use my spin pole as a whisker pole and while it does hold the jib out it is far too long. I have a much shorter whisker pole which seems to look and work better.
Good luck and Happy Christmas to all. (we are expecting a near record 42 degrees so no snow) ol'will