What's the point of a whisker pole?

sailorman

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peter2407 said:
Confession - have done no Spinnaker sailing, so might be a muppet question, but here goes: If a Spinakker pole is held in place by the up and down haul, it begs the question why one would use a lighter pole in lighter airs, as the lighter pole will equally be held in place by the up and down hauls. Or are the light airs being referred to so light that the foreward and backward movement of a heavier pole might be restricted? Or have I missed the point?
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the whisker pole is mainly for poling-out the head sail.
the Spi pole is the length from front of the mast > headsail tack "J".
the whisker pole will be about 60 > 75% of that as the Spi pole will push the genoa tack too far outboard
 
Confession - have done no Spinnaker sailing, so might be a muppet question, but here goes: If a Spinakker pole is held in place by the up and down haul, it begs the question why one would use a lighter pole in lighter airs, as the lighter pole will equally be held in place by the up and down hauls. Or are the light airs being referred to so light that the foreward and backward movement of a heavier pole might be restricted? Or have I missed the point?
 
Whisker poles are usually longer than spinnaker poles, and lighter, for use with Genoa on cruisy boats, not for huge loads of a kite in a blow.

Spi pole = 1.0 J roughly
Whisker pole = 1.3 J approx.
 
Ok... can you two guys get together... work out if it should be 75% of the Spinnaker pole... or 1.3xJ ?? And then report please.

Ta
 
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/racing/10059-whisker-pole-length.html

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Whisker Pole Length
As for the maximum length of the whisker pole, I believe it is solely a PHRF matter. It isn''t in the Racing Rules of Sailing. We have just cleaned up our PHRF regulations to allow setting the pole on the same side as the main boom and the length is limited to 80% of the LP of your largest genoa. Perhaps you could clarify matters for your group by just adding a ''prescription'' to your Sailing Instructions.
 
work out if it should be 75% of the Spinnaker pole... or 1.3xJ
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Here we go again. We've had this argument before. Some say less than J some say more than J.

It depends upon the size of the headsail relative to the fore triangle A big overlapping genoa needs a longer pole, a relatively small jib only needs a short pole.

My own home made pole is equal to J but I wish it was a just a little longer. Not perahps as much as 1.3 J 'cos its not abig sail . For mine about 1.1 x J would be nice I think.

The great thing about a whisker pole is that the loads on it are much less than on a spinnaker pole so adjustable length poles are a reality.


For fancy set up with an adjustable 50/50 aluminium/carbon fibre pole see this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXjlnF88Frw


Someone else will also be along with a different meaning for whisker pole if the thread goes according to form.

.
 
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sailorman said:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/racing/10059-whisker-pole-length.html

geohan geohan is offline
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Whisker Pole Length
As for the maximum length of the whisker pole, I believe it is solely a PHRF matter. It isn''t in the Racing Rules of Sailing. We have just cleaned up our PHRF regulations to allow setting the pole on the same side as the main boom and the length is limited to 80% of the LP of your largest genoa. Perhaps you could clarify matters for your group by just adding a ''prescription'' to your Sailing Instructions.
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Nobody mentioned racing. In fact I specifically mentioned cruising....
 
sailorman said:
the whisker pole is mainly for poling-out the head sail.
..................................the Spi pole will push the genoa tack too far outboard
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Since when was a whisker pole used for the TACK?

A Genoa is a sail overlapping the mast: its foot is longer than J: longer than the spinnaker pole.
So to get a Genoa to set well on a dead run, goosewinged to the main, a whisker-pole needs to be much more than J. It Could be almost as long as the Genoa foot!
A sensible size is the LP (longest perpendicular) of the Genoa, as the inner end should be attached to the mast to get it about horizontal.

So the ideal length of a whisker-pole dependes on the size of the Genoa, not the size of the boat!

It can be as light as a whisker, but on no account should it have a whisker poking from its end! Except on a dinghy.
 
To drift the thread slightly,

What are the stresses on a whisker pole?

I have wondered if a telescopic paint roller pole would be strong enough for the job?
 
What are the stresses on a whisker pole?
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compression mainly. if it sags a bit under its own weight it'll fold in half!

Seen it happen, a friend I was sailing with had made a very light whisker pole. It folded almost immediately.

Mine is bamboo pole from a roll of carpet ... the modern cardboard tubes in rolls of carpet do not make good whisker poles ;)
 
Or you all just man up and get your spinnaker up :D

I joke, I joke!

Whisker pole is normally around the same size as the foot of the genoa. I don't bother with one, i just use a sort of barber hauler set up
 
Used a s/h black carbon fibre ?? windsurfer mast on a 38 foot ketch as a light air whisker pole. I can't remember how I made the ends but it was from the bits box.

Worked well for years and was much easier than rigging the HD spi pole as I could just lift it into place and push it out and plug it nto the mast socket.
 
NickiCrutchfield said:
And there's me thinking a whisker pole is a boat hook. Just goes to show how wrong you can be. :)
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Hmm, on KS it might be about the right length, and on a 24 footer I'm not going to carry any more spars and other baggage than I need to. Of course, I have both staysail and jib - what then? Suppose I do have two boathooks... :-)

Pete
 
Whisker poles barber haulkers and all.

As I see it a whisker pole is used mainly to get the jib to sit steady when wind is behind you. The length is optional a long pole will hold the jib out very flat and almost at right angles to the c/l. To do this will need a lot of strength in the pole. A short pole perhaps only half the long pole length will still hold the clew steady but the area of sail presented to the wind will be a lot less but pole can be very light.

I do a lot of twilight sailing on other peoples boats we do a short leg of about 10 minutes down wind. I often find myself using my foot as whisker pole. ie sat on the side deck or cabin with foot on the jib sheet holding it down and out a bit. That is just enough to keep jib steady.

I have also used on my little boat particularly in a blow with no3 jib an alternative sheet going to a pulley well forward of the main sheeting point and out as far as possible on the gunwhale. This will hold the jib steady and drawing and is easy to get into operation by simply pulley on the alternative light jib sheet.from the cockpit. So using a barber hauler is very similar with same effect. ie when running have the jib sheeted forward and out. This sheeting point also being perfect for beam reaching as well.

So while that is a lovely pole system on the video clip. The cost of track up the mast and extendable pole would be crazy. That is what is needed for big spinnackers. (not extending pole of course.)
A boat hook can make a fine whisker pole on a small boat. You just need a way to attach it to the jib clew and to the mast, side of cabin or rigging to take the end thrust. olewill
 
You're right a pole is held in place by various bits of string, through blocks and deck fittings so that the pole is under full contol so its position isn't effected by strength of wind, a lighter one is simply easier to carry around the boat but it is of course weaker.

(It's simply another name for an end to end spinnaker pole, generally lighter than a pole for dip pole gybing)

Its a pole, if you're crsuiung you choose poles size and length to suit your application, twin poles, single poles, extending poles etc etc...for racing there are specific lengths that form part of the boats rating. But as a cruiser you can make it up as you go along.
 
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Two boathooks a must!

prv said:
Hmm, on KS it might be about the right length, and on a 24 footer I'm not going to carry any more spars and other baggage than I need to. Of course, I have both staysail and jib - what then? Suppose I do have two boathooks... :-)

Pete
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Course you have two boat hooks - how do you get the first one back after it's stuck itself in the mooring strop before you are attached?
 
alan_d said:
I don't understand. What do you attach the outboard end of your barber-hauler to. (A barber's pole, perhaps?)
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Our genoa track is very close inboard, the barber hauler is clipped onto the the clew of the genoa to just keep it flying out, having an angle pulling backwards along the boats length rather than inwards by the genoa sheet. It doesn't need a pole then.

I enjoy getting the spinnaker up so more often than not, the pole will go up closely followed by the spinny.
 
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VicS said:
Mine is bamboo pole from a roll of carpet ... the modern cardboard tubes in rolls of carpet do not make good whisker poles ;)
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I had a varnished bamboo whisker pole on one of my Enterprise dinghies, with nicely whipped wooden end pieces and nylon fittings. I thought it a very superior piece of kit as it was light and visually pleasing, and worked well.

Whats the point? Its the bit you stick into the clew on the jib.

Tim
 
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