The length of my pole

[claymore]

Well - bet that got you wondering!
YM this month - which is probably February) runs an article about sailing downwind and mentions poiling out the headsail and also the Scott Boomlock preventer:
In reverse order
The Scott Boomlock - claymore had one fitted by the lovely McNeil (the previous owner) - it came across the boat and was a brilliant device for repelling boarders and causing hours of wakefulness as returning crews (when rafted) used to trip up over the blasted thing and come crashing down onto the side decks. It was also really good at catching me each time I was going forward to anchor or moor and Dear Heart as well.
In terms of sailing performance it was a blasted pest as it wouldn't let the main run out so you had to unlock it each time and eventually it was detached and is now confined to the deepest recesses of a cockpit locker. R.I.P
Poling out the headsail
I used to sail a graduate dinghy around 127 years ago and we used to pole out the jib which had an incredible effect on downwind performance. I've thought for a while now of doing the same on Claymore who does not have a spinnaker. Is there a simple way of measuring the length of pole I would need?

regards
Claymore

 

[Strathglass]

The length of pole for the jib is normally the length of the foot of the jib.
Length for spinny pole is 'J', distance from forestay to front of mast.
I remember ( long time ago) sailing grads, better than ents in a blow, but I prefered ents.

Iain

 

[Twister_Ken]

> but I prefered ents<

And so sad that they lost the entwives. Sob.

 

[Cornishman]

Just before you started sailing your Graduate I was faced with crossing the Indian Ocean in a gaff schooner running before the Trades for about 3 weeks. Not the ideal point of sailing for a miniaturised Bluenose schooner replica. We bought a pair of secondhand Firefly mainsails in Singapore (RSYC was on the waterfront in those days) and poled them out as "twins". Pole lengths were equal to the length of the sail foot I seem to remember, and some rather faded photos appear to confirm this. They needed some sort of downhaul to stop them flying upwards and we hung short lengths of anchor chain from midway along the poles and brought the ends inboard to fittings on the anchor bitts. It all worked a treat, and we passed Noah about 1000 miles West of Sunda Strait.

 

[Guest]

Re: > but I prefered ents<

<cough> ents? <cough> those flakey blue sailed things?

GP's are the boat, and a lot closer to a Grad too...stir stir

Our newly bought totty yot came with a stick with a hook at each end which is about the same length as the boathook. Tried using it to pole the genoa out downwind and it was bluidy useless, so it looks like I'm going to be going through this exercise as well before next season.

Anyone got any comments or opinions on cruising chutes vs spinnakers for this sort of thing? SWMBO has kite flying experience but never done it on a yot, even a totty one, but said yot is a bit undercanvassed and may benefit in calmer airs. How do I know how big it should be??

 

[dickh]

I use my spinnaker pole for booming out the headsail on my Jaguar 27 - but possible a bit long but works well.
I tend not to use the spinnaker- the last time I used it put it up upsidedown!



dickh
I'd rather be sailing...

 

[bedouin]

Re: Cruising Chutes vs Spinnakers

This has been covered a few times before - try a search to find the threads.

Cruising Chutes or Asymmetric Spinnakers can be flown without a pole, which makes them easier but it has the down side that you can't go straight downwind.

My current favourite is an asymmetric, normally flown without a pole, but it can be poled out if necessary.

 

[kingfisher]

Max. length to consider: distance from the padeye on the mast to the attachement of the forestay on the nose of boat. Because otherwise, you'll get into trouble when gybing (dipping).

I've got a babystay, so can't dip. I lower the clew to the deck, release the mast side, go over the babystay, and re-attach to the mast. Re-attach clew, and presto.

And yes: poling out the head sail makes an enormous difference, is not difficult, and safe. Once you've gained confidence, you easily make the change to spinakker.

Group of people on the pontoon: skipper is the one with the toolbox.
http://sirocco31.tripod.com

 

[Miker]

Nice to know that I am not the only one who has tried to hoist a spinnaker upside down. I got a light adjustable jib pole for my 26 footer as I found the spinnaker pole a bit cumbersome and heavy. And, yes, it certainly improves downwind sailing, particularly goosewinging.
I was a little scared of the spinnaker until last summer when we flew it in a force three all the way back from Port St Mary to Fleetwood.