| Whisker Pole:
Forespar Line Control Whisker Pole - LC13-24UTS-UTR |
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| I purchased this pole for the run
from Norfolk to the Northern Bahamas and it performed as expected. For
downwind passages the ability to keep the headsail from collapsing
completely due to wave shadow and pitching seas greatly reduces the
shock loads on the rigging when the headsail fills again at the top of
the swell.
The pole I used is 13 feet long when collapsed and can extend to 24 feet using a line control system. A Forespar T-125 Car on 1 1/4" T track attached to the forward face of the mast supports the pole and allows height adjustment. I recently noticed that the Forespar T-125 car is suffering from crevice corrosion on one of the supports and will have to be replaced. The car is 14 feet up the mast when stowed and does not get inspected as often and I might like. The whisker pole did fail (gracefully) on the trip from Los Angeles to Hawaii, a plastic insert internal to the system managed to get partially jammed. The repair was easy and Forespar graciously offered to mail the parts to Kwajalein where I repaired the pole. Note: This pole weighs 42 pounds! It is a handful in a heaving sea which is just when you need the pole on the Genoa. The pole is often set early in a passage and stays set for days at a stretch. I control it with a topping lift, a forward guy and an after guy. The Genoa sheet is run through the end of the pole before it is unfurled. This allows the pole to be set without worrying about the sail. All of that said, the pole spends 90% of the time that it is in use at the same length, extended about 4 feet giving a total length of 17 - 18 feet. This is somewhat longer than the J length of 14 feet for this boat. Because of the weight of the pole I don't use it as much as I should. If I had it all to do over again, I would seriously consider a fixed length carbon fiber pole. Perhaps a 16 foot section of 3.5" diameter weighing 11 pounds and a one pound outboard end fitting and a two pound inboard end fitting (aluminum weight is not as critical at the mast fitting) would result in a pole which weighs 14 pounds and covers 90% of the need with only a modest increase in cost over the line control pole. |
The track mounted T-125 car mounted on the track is showing signs of stainless crevice corrosion
The Genoa sheets are run through the end of the whisker pole to allow the Genoa to be furled completely without taking down the pole. I often motor with the pole set if I believe the wind will return from the same direction. |
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