[Rhodes22-list] Whisker Pole Rigging - Why Horizontal

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Peter,

The downwind sail is the spinnaker or genoa that is poled out, i.e. a spinnaker or genoa/whisker pole combination that is only used on a downwind point of sail.  On a run, any sail behaves more like a parachute vs. a wing.  Projected sail area presented to the wind is the most important factor.  It’s trigonometry, having the pole horizontal causes the clew of the sail to stick out further than any other possible orientation, thus maximizing projected area.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

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From: Peter Nyberg<mailto:peter at sunnybeeches.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2020 10:57 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Whisker Pole Rigging - Why Horizontal

Roger,

One of the reasons I originally rigged the whisker pole with the inboard end attached to a car on the T-track, was that I read repeatedly that in use, the pole should be set up to be horizontal.  A movable attachment point would always allow you to do that.  I don’t recall ever reading an explanation for why horizontal is the proper orientation for the pole, until now.  But I still don’t get it.  It’s not that I doubt that there’s a valid reason, but the light bulb in my head is still definitely not turned on.

I can see how the position of the outboard end of the pole is important.  It controls the direction that the sheet is pulling the clew of the foresail, which affects the shape of the sail.  But with a topping lift, a fore-guy and and after-guy, the outboard end of the pole can be positioned without regard to the position of the inboard end.  I just can’t grasp why the position of inboard end matters.

I’m also a bit confused by the term ‘downwind sail’.  Which sail is that?

I’m only concerned here with a whisker pole with a jib or genoa.  Spinnakers are not in my wheelhouse.

Thanks for any insights you can provide,

—Peter


> On May 26, 2020, at 8:46 PM, ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>
...
> Mainly, the T-track allows the sail trimmer to adjust the vertical height of the inboard end of the whisker pole or spinnaker pole so as to level the pole relative to the clew of the sail.  Having the pole level causes the downwind sail to present the most projected area to the wind, thus maximizing thrust.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>