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E26-2 : D-Ring (or something?) for whisker pole setup

vasuvius

Member II
My boat came with an old telescoping whisker pole. But there is no place on the mast to attach it. We hooked one end to the D-ring assembly (I have no idea what it is called) at the bottom of the mast where the vang is attached.
I'm trying to figure out a place on the front of the mast to put something. There seems to be just 1 screw point next to the track - pic attached.
What kind of D-ring or some other hardware do I need to hook up a whisker pole?

IMG_0078.jpg
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I have seen a "car" that rides on that particular mast section, but hopefully someone else with a better memory can name it... !

Edit: it might be a Z Spar mast, and we might speculate as to just how that got onto an Ericson. (?)
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I'm not familiar with that mast section, which may have the car Loren describes.

But basically what you need is a "spinnaker pole mast eye ring," since your whisker pole probably has the typical latch-end fitting (with a retractable pin).

You attach the eye ring to the front of the mast using tapped machine screws. If you only use one headsail, position the eye ring such that the pole is horizontal when the other end is connected to the jib clew. It will remain level no matter the degree of genoa unfurled from the furler since clew height doesn't change.

Owners install a vertical track and a sliding eye ring fitting (a car) so they can adjust the height of the pole, but that's only necessary if you have an inventory of jibs (the idea is to keep the pole level). Or, you can install two fixed eye rings at different heights.

eye ring .JPG
 

vasuvius

Member II
As per the Forespar selection guide, the is the Pad-Eye recommended or the E26-2

The old whisker pole I have is a bit broken - a deep ding in the middle which prevents the pole from telescoping. It's stuck in the shortest length right now. A new 7-15' twist lock pole with latches is $550. I'm trying to figure out a cheaper alternative.
Any suggestions?
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
This has come up before, and the problem is that the forces on a whisker pole can exceed moderate. Making one yourself would be possible except that the end fittings are specific and expensive. And they really do need to telescope, since dead downwind they get long, and shorter is quite handy on a broad reach, rigged to leeward, in sloppy light air.

Used ones, well, it's always worth a search. Or perhaps attacking your old one with a hammer, nothing to lose.

They break if not set right and monitored. They're among the most accident-prone gizmos on the boat.
 

Bolo

Contributing Partner
I'm not familiar with that mast section, which may have the car Loren describes.

But basically what you need is a "spinnaker pole mast eye ring," since your whisker pole probably has the typical latch-end fitting (with a retractable pin).

You attach the eye ring to the front of the mast using tapped machine screws. If you only use one headsail, position the eye ring such that the pole is horizontal when the other end is connected to the jib clew. It will remain level no matter the degree of genoa unfurled from the furler since clew height doesn't change.

Owners install a vertical track and a sliding eye ring fitting (a car) so they can adjust the height of the pole, but that's only necessary if you have an inventory of jibs (the idea is to keep the pole level). Or, you can install two fixed eye rings at different heights.

View attachment 38814
Here is a photo of the whisker pole attachment at the mast that’s on my E32-3. It’s the type that Christian refers to and works quite well. It appears to me that you have a track on your mast. As you can see in my photo the track is 1 inch wide.
 

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vasuvius

Member II
Here is a photo of the whisker pole attachment at the mast that’s on my E32-3. It’s the type that Christian refers to and works quite well. It appears to me that you have a track on your mast. As you can see in my photo the track is 1 inch wide.
My mast does not have that kind of track.
This is the type of ring that should fit my mast :
1621605840608.png
 

Brad Johnson

Member III
Isomast ?? the mast manufacturer at that point had a fitting that fit on the front of the mast that slide up and down., It still needs a control system to bring it up and down. I used a track with a movable car and a line control when I set the symmetrical spinnaker set up around 1990. Its useful to be able to adjust the pole height.
 

vasuvius

Member II
Isomast ?? the mast manufacturer at that point had a fitting that fit on the front of the mast that slide up and down., It still needs a control system to bring it up and down. I used a track with a movable car and a line control when I set the symmetrical spinnaker set up around 1990. Its useful to be able to adjust the pole height.
I don't have any fitting on the mast. To install the Pad-Eye ring (pic in my earlier post), I'll need to drill a couple holes. At the moment, only planning to use a whisker pole with one sail.
 

Brad Johnson

Member III
A fixed ring needs a lot of consideration as to what height it should be placed. Clew height being one of them, how many head sails do you have??? , do you plan on replacing one in the future??? What is the pole length???? Yes what you are showing will work but there is alway more to it than first thought, and limiting the situation first thing is not the best approach IMO
 

vasuvius

Member II
A fixed ring needs a lot of consideration as to what height it should be placed. Clew height being one of them, how many head sails do you have??? , do you plan on replacing one in the future??? What is the pole length???? Yes what you are showing will work but there is alway more to it than first thought, and limiting the situation first thing is not the best approach IMO
I only have one head sail - a 135 genoa. It's on a furler so I doubt I'll get a smaller sail. Anything bigger would likely be a lot for the boat. The single fixed ring is most certainly limiting for any future changes but I'm not sure I want to go to the lengths of installing a track.
 
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