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Whisker Pole Procedures Video

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Thinking about whisker pole procedures, prompted by this recent thread, I discovered I had a rough cut sequence of an offshore singlehanded jibe I hadn't published. It does illustrate some of what we were talking about.

In the middle of the sequence, I seem to have let the pole tilt down at about 2:10. That's not good, it ought always to hang parallel to the water since the only real danger in the procedure is letting the end of the pole touch the sea rushing past, which would break it in half quickly. At 3:20 is the J-jibe discussed before. At about 5:10, I'm rigging a foreguy out of the lazy genoa sheet. My genoa sheet isn't long enough for that, I have to add a piece of light line to the end.

 
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nquigley

Sustaining Member
Nice!
I'll need a lot more time in the gym before I can hope to man-handle my very heavy telescoping whisker pole in a seaway. I bet it weighs 3x more than your carbon pole - very nice add.
 

jtsai

Member III
Thank you for posting this video. At 0:50 when the inboard end of the pole is released and you danced forward to the bow to switch outboard end of the pole, is the inboard end of the pole attached to anything or just lay free on the deck?
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The mast end is free, and extends temporarily aft of the mast. There's still enough tension on the pole lift to keep it somewhat suspended and fairly secure. If something were to go wrong, say chafe discovered or just a foul created by a dumb mistake, I'd lower the pole to the deck so it isn't banging around while things get sorted out.
 

Gaviate

Member III
I can see that a roller furler is very useful for controlling the sail. This season past, I completed (experimented) a simalar maneuver but with the sail still deployed (hank on), it seemed much more dramatic (sketchy).
 

steven

Sustaining Member
I do a swap end jibe at the mast. Disconnect the pole from the mast, drop the sheet from the pole, clip what was the mast end of the pole to the new sheet, and hook the former sheet jaw to the mast ring. I am probably at or near the size limit that can be done this way.

All at the mast, not at the bow, and it only takes a minute or two.

--Steve
 

goldenstate

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
I do a swap end jibe at the mast. Disconnect the pole from the mast, drop the sheet from the pole, clip what was the mast end of the pole to the new sheet, and hook the former sheet jaw to the mast ring. I am probably at or near the size limit that can be done this way.

All at the mast, not at the bow, and it only takes a minute or two.

--Steve
All with a furled headsail, correct?
 

steven

Sustaining Member
In light to moderate air I don't find that necessary. The trick is to point the pole somewhat towards the bow when you push it out on the new side. There is hardly any load that way and it is easy to get the free end of the pole clipped onto the mast ring. Then pull it back. You can set up the lazy sheet (to be the new working sheet) in advance to position the end of the pole about 30deg of arc off the bow until you get back to the cockpit to trim it.

This by the way is a standard technique on racing dinghy whisker poles and spinnakers.
It's a question of how well it scales to the larger sails and higher loads of cruising boats, and the prevailing conditions.

I don't see any reason it would not work if first furled. Might be safer. Haven't tried it.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Nice video job, good on ya.

Say, isn't it worth a shot at repairing the break? Carbon fiber is somewhat like fiberglass, and I'd think a wrap of only a quarter-inch of CF would restore near full strength. And it wouldn't look bad. If necessary you could paint the whole pole, which would eliminate the need for a bag.

A bike repair video, at random:
 

David Grimm

E38-200
Christian, I would have but the inner tube slide would always bump as it passed through the seam. 3 feet in would have been a challange to sand smooth. I can always sell the pole to someone with a smaller boat if it becomes a problem.
 

goldenstate

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
Christian, I would have but the inner tube slide would always bump as it passed through the seam. 3 feet in would have been a challange to sand smooth. I can always sell the pole to someone with a smaller boat if it becomes a problem.
I like your weight-saving speed modification. Very racy.

So the pole was lifted by the bridle and then flopped back against shrouds and broke?

Or did you actually pull the sheet so that the pole tightened against the shroud?
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Yea. I pulled it. Oops.
Back in the day.... I was grinding on a primary during a race, and stopped squaring the pole a bit too late. Nice bend in an aluminum pole was the result.
There are many lessons to be learned from racing. Occasionally expensive.
:(
 
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