The Whisker Pole
April 30, 2009
I am so excited to announce that the Dangerfield Island Sailing Club has started sending in their racing and rules questions and have dedicated a bit of space on their site in order to share my answers. Sort of a “stump the chump” segment, that I think will make for some great blog material. Here is an example of the sort of question I am looking forward to fielding:
“As a general question, are whisker poles permitted in the non-spin fleet? This is typically not permitted, but if DISC allows it, are there any specifications on the pole that can be used, ie. does it need to be a whisker pole vice a spinnaker pole being used as a whisker pole?
What is the rule on “human whisker poles”. Can a crew member hold the clew of a genoa out away from the boat at arms length?”
Whisker Poles – a pole of some kind used to hold the clew of a the genoa or jib in position when sailing wing-on-wing – are often used on boats that race non-spinnaker. It can dramatically improve your downwind speed by allowing you to gain maximum projection of the headsail and “vang” the sail and reduce twist.
To my knowledge there are rarely restrictions on their use except during winter time Frostbite races, when crew is restricted to the cockpit. PHRF assumes that the maximum length of the whisker pole is equal to the boat’s “J” length (“J” is the base of the foretriangle measured along the deck from the headstay pin to the front of the mast.)
So a whisker pole and spinnaker pole could be the same thing – but more often than not whisker poles are more lightly constructed. The only restriction is that that whisker pole cannot be longer than the J length of the boat – and if it is longer, that must be reported to the PHRF rating committee.
Sailors who are sailing out of the Washington Sailing Marina are in luck, because you’d be hard pressed to find a group of sailors who know more about whisker poles than the local Albacore Fleet. But for anyone who is curious to know more about whisker poles I’d suggest reading what Forespar (a whisker pole maker) has to say about it. If you are interested in adding a whisker pole to your boat…contact me!
As far as being a “human whisker pole” the only restriction on holding the sail is found in the rulebook. In the case of the crew position it is addressed in Part 4 – Other Requirements When Racing, Rule 49 of the rules. Rule 49 states:
49 CREW POSITION
49.1 Competitors shall use no device designed to position their bodies outboard, other than hiking straps and stiffeners worn under the thighs.
49.2 When lifelines are required by the class rules or the sailing instructions they shall be taut, and competitors shall not position any part of their torsos outside them, except briefly to perform a necessary task. On boats equipped with upper and lower lifelines of wire, a competitor sitting on the deck facing outboard with his waist inside the lower lifeline may have the upper part of his body outside the upper lifeline.
So if you are going to “wing out” the headsail, I would suggest that you keep most of your body inside the lifeline most of the time, but holding the sheet at arm’s length seems legal – and is probably fast!
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6 Responses to “The Whisker Pole”
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We actually had a few Whisker Pole questions after racing this weekend…. Can you use a whisker pole on the same side as the main??? Or can it only be used when you wing-wing? We weren’t sure?
Regina – Thanks for the note. The rule doesn’t dictate where the pole must be used, so in the event that you wanted to hold the jib/genoa out on the leeward side of the boat (same side as the boom) I think you would be free to do so. But the inboard end of the pole would need to be attached to the mast.
Was there a reason the pole was being used on the leeward side? Did it seem fast? I have my doubts about the usefulness of the pole to leeward, but please share what you saw and thing.
Thanks for the comment!
Does anyone have any links to setting a whisker pole without furling gear on the jib? I’ve seen Kretschmer’s cruising set on a furler. Our C&C33 does not have a furler.
Also: does anyone have instructions/links to “peeling” a sail? We bought “Flight Risk” w/ a great suit of North racing/cruising sails (3 jibs, 2 mains, 2 spins) and would like to know how to peel a #3 off to go to the No. 1 or 2 for downwind. We have a double grooved headstay foil and just bought forward jib cars for the blade. Our aft jib cars are wide enough for both sheets to travel through but I don’t think we’d need them; there may be enough good lead to go aft to the secondary winches. Any suggestions encouraged.
re: “peeling” –
Pretty straight forward if you think it through. This is sometimes call the “Inside Peel”.
The “Inside Peel” requires that when you start this proceedure, the #3 (working sail) is in the leeward most groove of the headstay foil.
1. Remove the lazy sheet (leeward side) from the #3, run the lazy sheet through the appropriate leeward jib leads, and attach it to the clue of the #1.
2. Hoist the #1.
3. Gybe. (Now what was the lazy sheet is the working sheet.)
4. Let the boat settle down.
5. The #3 is now inside the #1. And the sheet attached to the #3 is the lazy sheet.
6. Drop the #3. There will be some pressure on it, so the foredeck will probably have to pull it down.
7. Remove the lazy sheet from the #3, run it through the appropriate jib lead, and attach it to the #1.
8. Don’t forget to manage the #3. Bungee to the life lines, or stuff it below.
You can use the same technique when going to weather.
We don’t have a whisker pole, attachment point or halyard. How illegal is it to use a hand held boathook?
Tom – Thanks for the comment. My apologies for being so delinquent in responding. The racing rules are pretty clear about whisker poles.
I hope that helps!