Best option overall for storing spinnaker pole

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by steve77

Our pole is stored vertical on the mast. Like you, I have enough weight in the keel that the weight aloft doesn't concern me.

One issue I do have is noise while sailing. As the boat moves, especially any small amount of roll, the pole rotates slightly on its pin, causing a lot of noise down below as the pole rocks side to side. Since it is attached directly to our mast, the noise is transmitted directly down below into the salon. I haven't found a good way to quieten it, yet.

Cheers!

Steve

Ours used to rattle, too. I put a whipping on the chock on deck that the pole clamps to, and if you use the uphaul to tension the pole [we have a couple of clam cleats to tension the up- and downhaul for the pole], the whipping silences the pole. Hope this helps.

Ann

Ann

[cabo_sailor]

Mine is a telescoping whisker pole rather than a spinnaker pole. It's stored on the mast. I use the heavy duty rubber thingy to secure it so it doesn't rattle. However, if the ride gets a bit boisterous, the pole has been known to pop out of the lower chock and start swinging around at most inconvenient times. So in addition I either use a bit shock cord or parachute line to secure it to the mast.

I find that I don't use the pole that often. I will shout defiantly to the gods that I'm going north when I'm actually going to go south. Doesn't matter they still send me a south wind, on the nose.....sigh.


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[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

If storing on the mast and your pole is really 25 ft long I would get an adjustable pole that you can collapse shorter. Although on a couple boats I just abandoned the pole entirely and went for a different spinnaker that didn't need a pole.

There may be exceptions, but in general adjustable poles just aren't strong enough for spinnaker use. The forces on a spin pole are really big when you start pushing. I am of course talking about "traditional" spinnaker rigging, where you are poling the tack of the symmetrical spinnaker to windward.

In light winds I have used an adjustable whisker pole to hold out the clew of a bow-tacked asymmetrical spinnaker and the extra length of the fully-extended adjustable pole is an advantage over a standard "J-length" spin pole. But in strong winds it's just not a good idea.

Even with a regular 120% genoa the forces when poling out the clew can be staggering. I've twice broken my adjustable pole (Forespar carbon-fiber line-control) when running wing-and-wing in heavy winds. My fault, I should have known better, but adjustable whisker poles have their limits.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

However, if the ride gets a bit boisterous, the pole has been known to pop out of the lower chock and start swinging around at most inconvenient times.

When my pole is stowed on the mast, I have a deck-mounted chock just forward of the mast to secure the bottom end of the pole:

(Forespar)

When latched on to this the pole isn't going anywhere!

[Paul Elliott]

A confession: I have a love-hate relationship with my symmetrical spinnakers. They provide huge amounts of power and can really make a difference in speed, but they are intrinsically unstable and in strong winds take lots of concentration and skill to keep under control. On fast boats that surf they are easier to control, but on a lead-mine like mine as we try for that last 1/2 kt (our hull-speed is about 8 kts and we can push it to over 13 with a big kite), with the slightest provocation the sail wants to go out of control and pull us over sideways. This has happened multiple times, and I've snapped the spin pole twice in this manner as we round-down and crash.

In light air, and at reasonable speeds, it's easy to control and a lot of fun. In close-to-zero wind conditions a light spinnaker is your best bet, but it is constantly trying to wrap around the forestay or tangle in the rigging. I carry a spinnaker net to prevent this, but don't always put it up when I should.

Asymmetrical spinnakers are better-behaved, but don't work as well for deep-downwind sailing. I actually spend a lot of time wing-and-wing (genoa poled out to one side, and the main held out to the other), and this is a nice, controllable configuration. I also occasionally hoist a second genoa and pole out both sails (photos of this are on my website). This is a really stable downwind configuration and has about the same power as a symmetrical spinnaker.