Spinnaker Pole - how do I size it

[Philsteiner]

Hi All,

38 ft fractionallly rigged sloop has beeen missing its spinnaker pole since date of purchase. Would like to make my own pole so trying to find out if there any rule of thumb used to calculate spinnaker pole length /diameter . Assume diam is aligned to pole material.
Also mast is oregon so wish to retain use of timber for pole- any ides on suitable timber ( located in Sydney so availability of some timbers an issue)
Would be very grateful for any advice.
Best Regards...Phil

 

[Peterduck]

The timber is probably the easiest part of the reply; Oregon will do nicely. However, do look for fine-grained Oregon, with rings that go 1-2 per mm. Most ofthe Oregon available from the timber yards is NZ grown, with rings up to 5mm across. This is not what you need. Look in the building demolition yards for material from old buildings. The length of a spinnaker pole is largely governed by the foot dimension of your spinnaker. I made one a little while ago and simplyu used the length of the piece of timber that I had in stock. In your position, I would make a fairly rough one from some Radiata Pine that is longer than you would expect to need. It doesn't need to be nicely rounded. Shape the ends for the fittings, and fit them. Try it out on your yacht and see how it handles. You can vary the amount by which it sticks out of the side of the boat by attaching the inboard end to either the weather or lee shrouds or chainplates, as well as the mast. A plain pole will be the same diameter all the way along its length. The superior pole will be thicker in the middle by up to 50% of the tip diameter, and tapered to each end. So, if your fittings require a 2" diameter pole, then you could make the middle up to 3" diameter. At this diameter, you'd want to consider hollowing the pole out.
Peter.

 

[Salty John]

A spinnaker pole is typically the length of the boats 'J' dimension; distance from mast to jib tack.
Alloy poles are typically 2" up to about 25', 2.5" up to 30' and 3" up to about 38'. What that equates to in wood I have no idea!

 

[Philsteiner]

Many thanks for the replies, I have a good starting point. One more question in relation to Peter's reply regarding hollowing out the timber. Assuming a tapered pole of 3" in the center and tapered down to 2 " at the end...would I be on the right track if I assumed laminating two lengths of the timber with approximately a 1" bore to reduce weight? Also I assume that I would leave the ends solid.
Thanks again
Rgds, Phil

 

[Peterduck]

Your first trial pole wouldn't need to be tapered; just the final deluxe model. You've got it right; two pieces of oregon laminated together. Keep the wall thickness constant [I would think 3/4" would be fine] and taper the hollow accordingly, with the last foot at each end being solid. When you come to varnishing the thing, try Bond-all varnish from Bunnings. A mate of mine had a sample of timber coated with a couple of coats on his north-facing garage wall for 3 years without any problems.
Peter.

 

[tillergirl]

Can I suggest you acquire your end fittings soonest as that will set the diameter of your pole at either end.

 

[Adamastor]

Just another question re: tillergirl's point: are you rigging her for dip-pole, twin-pole or end-for end spinaker-pole. IMHO, having only used a wooden pole on a 30's-vintage 25-footer, wooden poles are best kept tamed. Here's the rub: if you've got a suitable mast-track, why not put 2 rings on, with 2 cars. And put like ends on the pole. And make 2 poles?
I'm not being inflamatory, but with 2 like ends on a pole, you'll be able to end-for-end gybe if it's light and you rig for single sheet and tweakers. And if you want to gybe without fuss, or even single-handed, you put up 2 poles and leave 'em on the guys: raise one up and brace it back.
And if you want to cruise, you've got the ultimate kit to run siamese-twin jibs and no main!
Think of the hassle and emotional damage you'd save by not shipping foredeck crew, just by having 2 spi-poles!

 

[pyrojames]

Good advice. I used to have alight aluminium pole which I gybed end to end, but the new boat is a cutter so gybing is going to have to be a twin pole job. I also think that my poles are going to be too heavy to easily handle alone, so twin tracks etc are in. On which note, if anyone knows of good bell type fittings I would be very interested.