Spinnaker pole attachments

Falco · **Joined:** 23 Dec 2007 23:08 **Posts:** 42

I recently purchased a used spinnaker from another Tartan 37 owner. It flies nicely and improved my dead-down-wind performance. The previous owner(s) of VANORA had a nice set-up for the spinnaker (topping lift, downhaul, adjustable mast ring) but I wonder if the attachment points to the pole are optimal. Currently, the only way to attach the topping lift and downhaul are at the extreme outer end of the spinnaker pole. That means that when you detach the pole from the mast you have nearly all of the weight of the pole in your hands. Also, the downhaul tends to rub on the upper lifeline. On other boats I have had, the topping lift and downhaul were attached at the middle of the pole. With this set-up, when deploying the spinnaker or taking it down, you didn't have to actually heft the pole around as the topping lift took most of the weight. There are no provisions on the pole for that type of attachment. What have other owners done? A picture is worth a thousand words, if possible.

Thanks for any experience you can share.....

Falco

Velera · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2006 09:38 **Posts:** 656

You can do it either way. As you note, most boats have two bridles on the pole with a ring in dead center. One for the topping lift and one for the downhaul (suggest these lead aft to the cockpit). Makes things quite a bit easier when doing gybes and generally handling the pole on the foredeck. You could rig this with some coated wire, thimbles and some nico press fittings, but it might be easier to take it to a rigger as this is a quick job for them. You could also have these made out of the new exotic fibers and spliced into place. To really make use of this feature you need to have trip lines to release the pistons in the jaws of the pole, which I will assume are already there.

Falco · **Joined:** 23 Dec 2007 23:08 **Posts:** 42

As suggested, I already have the two trip lines (one for each pole end piston) and the downhaul is rigged to a large screw=in eye on the deck where I have a removable snatch block and fairleads going back to a clutch in cockpit. So, I guess the obvious solution are the two eye straps installed in the middle of the pole and two wire rings. I just found it curious that all the rest of the hardware was there from previous spinnaker rigs but no apparent attachments mid-pole. Any other brilliant (or just interesting) solutions are welcome.

Falco

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Falco,
As Valera describes, this is the proper way to rig the spinnaker pole. What you are decribing sounds like a whisker pole. Sometimes whisker poles can do double duty, but they are often much lighter than the spinnaker pole. The spinnaker pole should have enough heft to it so it helps the sail from rising too much.

Tartan37.com

Spinnaker pole attachments

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