Imzadi (an old IOR boat) came with 2 spin halyards, a track and line adjustable 
ring car on the front of the mast, and a ring on either side of the mast for 
use with a reaching strut. Her sail inventory has a 135 genoa (set up with a 
foam luff, for reefing down to about 90% on the furler) and an asymmetrical 
chute tacked to the anchor roller array about 2 feet in front of the headstay.

 

I’ve put the reaching strut and spin pole into storage (available to any lister 
who needs either one in exchange for a donation to Stu and cost of shipping). I 
carry two whisker poles on Imzadi for the headsails. 

 

As others have said, there are pretty high forces on the attachment points when 
using a pole – particularly with the spin when running. So a strong attachment 
point on the mast is needed, and use of the ring at the gooseneck is probably 
contraindicated.

 

But I think you are mistaken in thinking that you will have the pole in contact 
with the rigging. It’s true that the clew of bot the genoa and a-sail will be 
aft of the rigging when reaching, but in any sort of wind the sails will be 
held out by nature and you won’t be using the pole. I use my poles for deep 
reaching and running in light air. So the pole is never more than about 60 
degrees off the bow to hold out the clew of a sail and keep it from collapsing 
in light air – anything above about 8-10 knots of steady wind seems to keep the 
sail drawing without the pole to hold the clew. I use both poles (and both 
sails) to run wing and wing to run essentially dead downwind when cruising.

 

When doing the wing and wing thing, the poles get attached to the rings for the 
reaching strut. The genoa tack point does not change, so the clew can move up 
and down over only a small range. The tack of the a-sail can move up and down 
depending on the wind (as with any spinnaker) but the probable range is 
something like 4 or 5 feet max.  The pole is probably best at 90 degrees to the 
mast when connected to the clew of the sail, but I suspect a small angle is 
acceptable – at least it has been for me. 

 

Maybe you could figure out the range of clew height for you a-sail – min and 
max off the deck – and install a strong ring on either side of the mast as an 
attaching point for the pole at the midpoint of that range?  The pole would 
have a slight up or down angle some of the time, but you would only be using it 
in light winds when the compression load on the pole would be low. And two 
rings would be a lot less complex (and expensive) than installing a track and 
car on the front of the mast.

 

 

Rick Brass

Imzadi  C&C 38 mk2 #47

la Belle Aurore  C&C 25 mk1 #225

Washington, NC

 

 

 

From: Bruce Whitmore via CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2021 9:28 AM
To: Stus-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>
Cc: Bruce Whitmore <bruce.whitmo...@gmail.com>
Subject: Stus-List Whisker pole with a 37/40+?

 

Hello all,

 

I was wondering if you folks can give me some advice as to rigging a whisker 
pole on our 37/40+.  The boat, which has spent a good part of its time on the 
west coast of Florida, was previously named "Dagny" and saw its share of races. 
 Yet, the boat does not have a whisker pole ring/car on the front of the mast, 
and does not have a whisker pole onboard.  Nor does it have the equipment for a 
spinnaker pole, though the boat came with a symmetrical spinnaker.

 

I'd like to rig a whisker pole for use with our 150 Genoa and a large 
asymmetrical spinnaker.  

 

Funny thing is, at the gooseneck, there is a bolt that holds the two pieces 
together that has a ring mounted at the bottom.  I don't think it would get the 
perfect angle, but would it be that easy to rig the pole to that ring?  A photo 
of that bolt/ring can be found here:  

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/re5kalfn9slfidr/Gooseneck%20Fitting.jpg?dl=0

 

The 150 and the asymmetrical will both have the clew behind the mast most if 
not all the time I would be using it.  In the case of the big asymmetrical, I 
think it might be so far back as to bank up against the rigging, though 
obviously I haven't used one on this boat as of yet.

 

Can anyone provide any insights?  

 

Thank you!!!




Bruce Whitmore

1994 C&C 37/40+ "Astralis"

Madeira Beach, FL

Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the 
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send contribution --   https://www.paypal.me/stumurray  Thanks - Stu

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