I plan to get a 135 in the near future. Additionally, I want to get a whisker pole. Some of the recommendations that I've seen say the pole should be 1.4 times J or the length of the foot of the headsail which would indicate it should be 13.2 to 13.8 foot long. It seems that the moderately priced whisker poles are telescoping to 12', then they go up considerably in price. Seems to me, because you would normally bag the sail when running wing and wing, 12' might do it. Any experiences with this?
Frank 2
Frank, a telescoping to 12 foot works fine on my CP 16, I also have a 135.....Phil
Frank2 Beings you posted under the 23 site I would think you have a 23. The length of pole you will need on this pole will be longer than one used for a 16 as J will be greater. Also with greater sail area pressures will be more and you might want a stronger pole than one used on a smaller sail. I have a 16 and the pole I have IMO would not be suitable for a 23ft boat with a 135 Genoa.
Sad fact is larger boats usually means larger sums of money.
All in my own opinion. Melvin
Hi Frank,
I have been using a small diameter whisker pole for some time now on my 23/II. The pole is about 12 feet long overall and is used with a lapper (110%). The good news is that I believe it has never been completely extended for wing on wing. It is still in good condition after about a decade of use. The small size stows quite easily.
Ernie (Molly 23/II, 1984)
Frank, get the smaller pole and try it, if it does not work you can always use it for putting up xmas lights.........have a great turkey day......Phil
Frank
I don't have a whisker pole- we usually just jibe away sort of tacking down wind- I noticed though that the attachment point on my mast was made of plastic and it has broken. Don't know how or why. If I ever buy a pole I will replace the plastic fitting with a metal one. Matt
So, if you were to buy a wisker pole for a CP-19 where/who would have one..besides WM for big $$$$
I sail the Miss. river and lite air is the norm. Had one on a Catalina 22 and it was great.. bought the CP and had none.. also has no bilge pump handle > any ideas where to ge/make one?
Rob
Rob,
Call Hutchins(Compac manufacturers). Gerry will most likely get on the phone and help you out. I have ordered a couple of things from them and they are very helpfull and will know exactly what you need.
Norm
I bought the whisker pole for my 1985 23/2 at Defender. I don't remember which one but it was less about 90 clams, telescopes out pretty far and works great. A Harken if me memory serves me well, which is doesn't always.
Bob23
The telescoping twelves are Forespar, in fact, based on my searches, they may have no competition in that size range. Defender has them at from $115-123 depending on the end, spike on one end being the lower of the two. Shipping high, $18.80 to my spot in the world.
Traveled to a Coastal area over TG and went to a WM to look at one, and if I liked it, try to get them to match Defender for cash and carry, but they do not stock them, order item only.
Frank 2
I currently use a telescoping boat hook with the correct fittings added to either end to convert it into a whisker pole. It has either 3 or 4 telescoping sections so it easily fits in my cockpit locker and is plenty stiff enough for the work. I don't remember the exact price but would be shocked if I had more then $50 invested in it.
Of course the companion to the whisker pole is a boom preventer. I guess it's named to prevent the boom from booming you in the head during an accidental jibe. When my main's out there on the opposite side of the jib, it's usually way out there. I've got the little wheels turning in the grey matter up there to rig a simple, and inexpensive (read: out of parts I already own) preventer so as to keep the boom at a fixed location in relation to the centerline of the ship.
Bob23
Well Bob23, let us know what the gray matter outputs. I'm thinking about that too. I'm putting together a vang and thinking it can do double duty as a preventer. On my last boat, I just moved the vang from the base of the mast to an appropriate spot on the toe rail with a snap shackle. No toe rail on the Com-Pac, so I'm thinking that clipping it to the forward stanchion base may be OK. I think there is very little initial force on the boom when it becomes unstable enough to self jibe. usually either a swell sweeping under or a little back wind from helmsman inattention. However, don't want to rip a stanchion out.
Frank 2
Frank,
You're echoing my thoughts exactly. I already have a boom vang and I tend to loosen it a bit when the boom swings out, I could detach it and reattach it to a forward stanchion base. I don't think there is much tension on it; it's just holding the boom in place.
But I may just rig a separate line from either a base or install a dedicated block just for the preventer.
There was a good article in one of this years "Good Old Boat" magazine on boom preventers. Since they tend to lean towards bigger boats than my little 23, to duplicate would be overkill but I'll probably borrow the basic idea.
Bob23...up early again.
Interesting whisker pole thread on the MacGregor sailors forum:
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14669 (http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14669)
I have the whisker pole shown in the picture, with one spear tip and one clamp tip. I got it for really cheap on Craigslist. It is super light and easily stores vertically on the front of the mast. The spear tip has some advantages and disadvantages, as you can read on the thread. But, one nice thing is that to disenagage it, all you have to do is let out the sheet and the spear point will come out of the ring on the jib and just rest on the lifelines.
I haven't felt the need for a preventer yet, but will definitely use the boom vang attached to a stanchion base if conditions are ever right for a preventer. I backed my stanchion bases up with steel plates under the deck, so the boom or boom bail would probably break before the stanchions.
Hey Y'all,
This guy John Turpin has a neat idea for a preventer, even if he lost his boat in the Texas 200
You can see it here: http://www.wwpotterowners.com/JohnTurpin1.html
TG
Tim, great idea from web site, found the "figure 8 desender" at Eastner Mountain Sports(1-888-463-6367) for $14.95, part no. 3667100, Black Diamond Super 8 ,only trouble I have to wait 5 months to try it out............Phil
Once again this forum provides a lot of information from a bunch of experienced sailors. Ask a question and varied opinions and experiences flow in.
My thinking now is that I'll order a pair of those higher quality 1-1/4" RWO pole ends. Then I'll go down to my local metal supply house and get two pieces of 6061 aluminum tubing, a 10.5' section of 1-1/4", and a 4' section of 1-3/8". There are two wall thicknesses that have a .009" clearance to each other. I'll cut the 10.5' piece into a 6.5' and a 4'. I'll overlap the two four ft. pieces by six inches and permanently join them, giving me a seven foot mast end pole. Put one of the ends on this section. I'll then stick the 6.5 piece into the 1-3/8" stub and match drill it every six inches in the proper orientation. Get a couple of bullet pins to fit the drill size that will lock the length. Put a couple of small eye bolts for a safety line to keep it from completely separating when I'm extending it to put it in use. Also could use that for a topping lift attachment or downhaul attachment.
What I end up with is a pole when assembled that is extendable in six inch increments from about 10.3' to 13.3', the longer being 1.4 X J. Knocked down and velcro strapped together, it is 7' long which will store in the cockpit locker extending over the separation bulkhead between the locker and main cabin so no deck storage necessary. Ill end up with about the same cost as I would with a forespar 6-12 (which actually only opens to about 11'2" according to the specs. but would have an additional two feet. Additionally, it should be a little more robust than the forespar.
Well, that's today's thought, could change tommorrow.
Wow , to much work. I'm either buying one or sending the first mate [ wife of 41 years] to the deck to hang on to the sheet...but then who would go below for a chilled adult beverage?
We need pictures when you're done...maybe there's a market for them?
Rob
I have one of those first mates with 41 years tenure also. After your post I suggested your idea to her. She is still rolling on the floor, laughing, so I must assume that she has no interest in that plan. Onward with plan A.
The only sheets my first mate knows are on the bunk...sailing on the big river my real plan is to start the iron jenny if the breeze dies.. other wise known as Mr Johnson.
Rob
I like John's boom brake setup. The marine boom brakes have always looked interesting but are way too expensive to justify on a small boat. I imagine the control line could also be routed down to a block on a stanchion and then back to a cleat or whatnot on the outside of the cockpit coming.
Also on the boom brake pictures, you can see a pretty good example of how John has his reef lines routed back to the cockpit. May have to try that out...
Back to the whisker pole discussion ... I did something along the lines of brackish. That is, made a pole rather than buying one for top $$$. A little blind luck helped too :-) but I'll pass it along.
I started with an old, but still in good shape, section of a swimming pool net handle. It happened to be just the right length, but it wouldn't have been too hard to cut it if it were too long. Then I went to West Marine and bought the two 'clips' that fit into the ends ($13 each), drilled two holes in each end of the handle (pole) and screwed the clips in place. Works great! It doesn't telescope, so it is usable for only one jib; the larger one, which I use more often anyway.
Also, without an uphaul or downhaul on a CP23, a whisker pole can be hard to control, but it works well enough for wing-and-wing operation, and much less costly than buying a complete whisker pole.