Whisker Pole v Spinnaker Pole

[LONG_KEELER]

My spinnaker pole is quite heavy and awkward to move about ,and the reality is that I will probably never fly a spinnaker again on my 26'ft boat.. I do have a cruising chute which comes out to play on a few occasions during (a normal) summer.

I'm thinking of switching to a whisker pole around the size of the foot of the jib plus a bit more . I rather like the idea of wood rather than aluminium which could become a winter project. If there was a scale for woodworking prowess I would come out around 6/10 so any ideas that are not too difficult would be welcome . Cheers.

 

[Praxinoscope]

I have a cruising chute rather than a spinnaker on my boat, much easier to use than a spinnaker especially when sailing single handed or just two on board, although of course not so effective at times as a spinnaker.
My previous boat had a spinnaker and spinnaker pole and I found that the extra hassle involved tended to reduce my enthusiasm for using it, so when I bought my present boat which came with a cruising chute and whisker pole, the delight at finding the whisker pole being so much smaller and lighter and easier to use than the spinnaker pole was measurable.
I have seen broom handles used as whisker poles, so I would have thought that as long as the type of wood chosen is suitable I would expect it well within the skills of a 6/10 woodworker to manufacture one.

 

[Wing Mark]

Different people have very different ideas and expectations about whisker poles.
From taking the weight of the sail in no wind, up to running under a genoa or two in lots of wind and big seas.

Depending on how you intend to use it, and the size of the boat, I'd consider making one from aluminium tube, carbon tube, old windsurfer mast, or bamboo.
Maybe grp tube?
Something which will bend and spring back rather than break might be a good idea if you want to keep the weight down.

 

[Stemar]

If I were thinking about this, I think Plan A would be a length of aluminium scaffolding pole, but I don't know if the plan would survive first contact with some scales

 

[fredrussell]

I made mine out of a windsurfer mast. £40 on eBay - but you’ll need to be creative to make/choose/attach end fittings, as most of the spinny pole ones I tried were not the right size.
It’s a joy to use though, i would guess weight is circa 4kg for a 4 metre pole, but they can be a lot lighter depending on carbon/glass ratio of windsurf mast.

 

[reeac]

I did just this a few years ago for a 1936 timber dayboat. The length needs to be 1.1J. I managed to get for free a big timber spinnaker pole which had corroded and distorted end fittings ... one ferrous and one bronze . Cut it down to 1.1 J , discarding the ferrous end, planed it down to what I judged to be a suitably sized octagonal cross section, incorporating a taper towards the outboard end in order to reduce the weight on the sail Cleaned up and renovated the bronze fitting. Attached a modified plastic boathook end to push through the cringle on the jib and finished in Deks Olji. My best DIY effort.

 

[Laminar Flow]

Unless you have the woodworking skills to build a hollow and, preferably, tapered spar, you will find it to be considerably heavier than any other hollow variety quoted above.
A solid pole should have a central diametre of 0.013 of it's length, the ends 0.75 of diametre. To make it hollow, the diametre should be in increased by 10%, with a wall thickness of 20% of D.
Easiest and lightest, barring fancy materials such as carbon etc, is to buy a suitable length of aluminium tubing and end fittings to match.

Best of luck.

 

[Never Grumble]

Unless you have the woodworking skills to build a hollow and, preferably, tapered spar, you will find it to be considerably heavier than any other hollow variety quoted above.
A solid pole should have a central diametre of 0.013 of it's length, the ends 0.75 of diametre. To make it hollow, the diametre should be in increased by 10%, with a wall thickness of 20% of D.
Easiest and lightest, barring fancy materials such as carbon etc, is to buy a suitable length of aluminium tubing and end fittings to match.

Best of luck.

How do you calculate diameter and tube thickness? Its something I have always considered.

 

[Never Grumble]

Unless you have the woodworking skills to build a hollow and, preferably, tapered spar, you will find it to be considerably heavier than any other hollow variety quoted above.
A solid pole should have a central diametre of 0.013 of it's length, the ends 0.75 of diametre. To make it hollow, the diametre should be in increased by 10%, with a wall thickness of 20% of D.
Easiest and lightest, barring fancy materials such as carbon etc, is to buy a suitable length of aluminium tubing and end fittings to match.

Best of luck.

How do you calculate diameter and tube thickness? Its something I have always considered.

 

[Laminar Flow]

How do you calculate diameter and tube thickness? Its something I have always considered.

If you want to be fancy about it you could calculate it using Euler's formula to determine moment of inertia for a certain sail size/load at 1lbs/square foot and length. A spinnaker/whisker pole is a strut under compression with two pin ends. Skeene's offers a detailed approach to this and also a nomograph for hollow, square wooden booms in relation to sail area and length. If you give me the length and SA I'll happily look it up for you (the wooden one).

Or, simply look up what certain online chandlers (SVB for example) suggest for a given sail size and pole length. End fitting tend to be made to fit standard diametres.

 

[LadyInBed]

I rather like the idea of wood rather than aluminium

Solid wood will be quite heavy, bamboo could be an option.
I made mine from an old fiberglass windsurfer pole.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I have one half finished in my shed - it's a carbon fibre pole? from a windsurfer, just needs a 2nd end which I have not sourced yet. Also an aluminium windsurfer mast if the first one fails...

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Solid wood will be quite heavy, bamboo could be an option.
I made mine from an old fiberglass windsurfer pole.

Yes. It looks like a carbon fibre windsurfer mast is the way to go. I have looked on eBay and it looks promising that they turn up fairly frequently. Glass fibre tubing also looks a very cheap option. The most expensive parts are probably the pole end fittings. It's a pity that I won't have the opportunity to upgrade my woodworking skills but the black carbon fibre pole should look cool on deck.

 

[dunedin]

I have one half finished in my shed - it's a carbon fibre pole? from a windsurfer, just needs a 2nd end which I have not sourced yet. Also an aluminium windsurfer mast if the first one fails...

For a jib pole, I don’t think you necessarily need a second end fitting (just one for the mast end) - I just put a bit of solid plastic through the last 8-10cm, drilled a hole and fitted metal rings top and bottom joined by a short bit of rope. Uphaul on the top ring, downhaul on the bottom ring which had snap shackle on end that extra jib sheet can be clipped into.

 

[LadyInBed]

The most expensive parts are probably the pole end fittings.

Not too expensive Spinnaker Pole Piston End 38mm

 

[Laser310]

I used a windsurf mast for a while - i am a windsurfer and had plenty of masts i was no longer using.

some are stiffer than others... in particular race masts tend to be stiff. they also come in different diameters; generally referred to as either reduced diameter ("skinny") or standard diameter. Standard diameter are stiffer for a given weight, and have thinner wall thickness. Longer masts will usually be standard diameter.

obviously - different end fittings will be needed for standard vs reduced diameter.

here is an end fitting i made on the end of a reduced diameter mast - basically, the copper pipe goes through the clew ring of my jib

most windsurf masts have a fitting at the tip that accepts a plastic plug found on many windsurf sails. On this reduced diameter mast, the copper pipe inserts into that fitting just right - it goes in, but isn't coming out easily. I had previously tried a wood dowel, but it snapped.

What isn't shown is the shock cord loop that holds the clew in place. The white material is starboard; i drilled two little holes at the edge of the starboard disc, and tied on a loop of shock cord. the shock cord loop stretches around the clew and then over the copper pole, holding the clew ring on the pole. This isn't always needed.

This boat is a 30ft J/Boats sprit boat - it has an asymmetrical spinnaker and thus did not have a ring on the mast. The reason I needed this is that my club does some "fun" non-spinnaker racing for family and friends, and i needed to pole out my jib

I did put a spin pole ring on my mast, but I never got around to finding a suitable inner fitting for the windsurf mast - it was jerry-rigged and kind of worked.

eventually i found a whisker pole in my shed that works and i am using that .

I think some racing rules require that _any_ pole be no longer than J.., or a penalty is incurred.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re piston end diameter, as the windsurfer pole is tapered, I cut some short lengths of pole off the smaller diameter end and pushed them into the large diameter end to shim it down to fit the piston end.