VALIS has a CF Forespar Line Control whisker pole, as well as a CF spin pole. The spin pole is roughly 19 feet. I don't remember the whisker length, but it can collapse to a few feet less than 19, and extends far beyond.
I don't know if they're worth it, but they are much lighter than similar Al poles, and certainly easier to handle. You really should find a way to handle each type before deciding.
The CF pole is very strong, but when they break it can be pretty exciting! The ends are quite splintered and there are cracks that extent for about a foot. I suppose it depends on how you break it -- ours broke (two different times) in a violent round-down. If we had been cruising we wouldn't have been flying the
spinnaker under those conditions, but we were
racing. It's a good thing the pole broke, and not the
mast. We repaired the pole with an internal CF insert and building up the broken-area gap.
The line-control pole is heavier, as it has an internal
aluminum rod inside the telescoping CF pole sections. I think my whisker pole isn't strong enough, or I push it too hard, as it has broken under pretty heavy load. One time the control line internal attachment padeye pulled out of the CF tube, and the second time the mast-end end cap twisted out of the tube. Both times the
repair was with stronger stuff, so perhaps they have been improving the pole design over the years.
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