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Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 1:10 am
by RobH912
GreenLake wrote:
Piffle4179 wrote: I think I do use your method to connect my main halyard to the headboard: Make a bight, stick it through, stick the free end (with a large fixed eye acting as a toggle) through the bight, pull back out and you have a luggage tag hitch secured by a toggle.


GL - on your post of "Rope for Various Lines" I think that I see that you use 3/16" Samson Ultra-Lite for your spinnaker sheets. Is that right? So are you attaching you sheets to the spinnakers as described above?

I don't have have any 3/16' line, but looked at how to tie an Ashley stopper knot like Tom mentions earlier in this post with 6mm line today and it seems like the stopper knot tied with 3/16" will not be very large, i.e. not larger than the grommet hole. Maybe I'm wrong about that. What type of stopper knot are you tying?

Piffle - what size line are you using for your sheets?

Any pictures would be great :D


Thanks!

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:27 am
by RobH912
but looked at how to tie an Ashley stopper knot like Tom mentions earlier in this post with 6mm line today


sorry got that wrong, I practiced on 8mm line

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:34 pm
by GreenLake
The rope I'm using for my spinnaker sheets is rather stiff. I do put a figure eight in the ends so I don't lose them overboard inadvertently; some people would disagree with that practice, incidentally.

The toggle hitch, to use that name, is something I only use for the main halyard. Originally I used a snap shackle, but I was worried that I was losing a bit of hoist, so I switched to tying on the mainsheet directly, using the spliced eye as a toggle. It never occurred to me to use that anywhere else. (My jib sheet ends in a soft shackle that attaches to a diamond knot attached permanently to the head).

Since I don't take the sheets off the spinnaker, they are attached with bowlines. When I first rigged my boat for a spinnaker, I used an existing eye on deck for the downhaul. It was slightly off center but that lead to the pole having a tendency to pull away from the clew. So I got into the habit of connecting the jaw to the loop of the bowline; most likely also not orthodox and something that should have gotten me into some trouble but didn't. I've since installed a dedicated eye.

My first setup was very much jury-rigged where possible, because neither I nor the friend who gave it to me knew whether the spinnaker would work on a DS. Later I found out that it's pretty much standard size for the DS, even though it cam from a different class of dinghies. As it turns out, after I tried it, I didn't need to change much to make it work, so I kept most of the setup, including these turning blocks.
2142
I may break down and run the sheets forward either on top of the deck or underneath and provide dedicated cleats for them. That will happen when I'm sure I know where I want them. Up to now, I've managed to repurpose some existing cleat for the guy when I need it (usually on broad reaches). Might be different if I sailed a lot in stronger winds.

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:11 pm
by tomodda
RobH:

For what it's worth, I'm using 3/16" NovaBraid XLE Double Braid for my spin sheets. Haven't rigged them yet, so no idea how it works. They're light, they float, they don't stretch much, and they didn't totally bread the bank. I got them from R&W Rope. I just called them and asked to speak to a rigger about my project. They were very helpful and we put together an order, including some very nice 1/4" Novabraid shock cord for my uphaul. I'm planning to copy GL's setup with a running downhaul/foreguy and a static bungee uphaul. On one of these forum posts, GL kindly did the math and wrote up exactly how long the bungee uphaul should be. Thank you! We'll see how it goes :)

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:13 pm
by RobH912
Tom thanks for info on rope for spinnaker sheets. I’ll take a look.

While I understand how Dyneema has allowed lines to be thinner & lighter, 3/16 seems SO small, like kite string. All I have around the house is some leftover 1/4 “ and just seems very small in my hand.

Will do some searches and look for “GL's setup with a running downhaul/foreguy and a static bungee uphaul.“

Thanks!

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 1:00 am
by GreenLake
RobH912 wrote:Will do some searches and look for “GL's setup with a running downhaul/foreguy and a static bungee uphaul.“


Tom may have meant this post.

Whatever you do, best to dry rig your setup and make sure that the uphaul can lift the pole to horizontal or a bit above and that when it's dipped to the stemhead fitting it doesn't overstretch. A photo is here.

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:09 pm
by RobH912
What I did was buy a 74" pole from Intensity Sails, actually made by Selden (in South Carolina):

https://www.intensitysails.com/sesppoforda.html


Tom - Got my Selden pole from Intensity in less than a week... not sure they are very busy right now.

Thanks!

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:40 pm
by tomodda
Glad you got your pole! Yeah, Selden makes a good spin pole - tapered, light, and a nice action on the jaws.

What a difference 60 days make... Although to be honest, I'd rather that Selden and the entire boat industry were 3- week delay busy. Tough times out there, and even harder for "luxury" businesses, like our favorite sport. Well, thank you for helping to keep them (literally) afloat during the Present Unpleasantness.

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:21 am
by RobH912
Tough times out there, and even harder for "luxury" businesses, like our favorite sport. Well, thank you for helping to keep them (literally) afloat during the Present Unpleasantness.


Tom - yes tough times for sure, and while it is not clear to me when I may get to use my DS decided that I would continue with my spinnaker project ordering the pole, spinnaker sail, sheets, and hardware knowing that I was helping out various businesses and I do need the items to complete the project.

I did look at the 3/16 NovaBraid XLE Double Braid you mentioned for the spinnaker sheet at R&W Rope. Rope looked nice, but R&W has a $50 minimum order. They are in New Bedford MA so they are "local" business for me, but ended up getting the 3/16 Samson Ultra-lite from Fisheries Supply where it was on sale. R&W site looks good and I've added the site to my bookmarks for vendors for the DS.

Thanks

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 2:25 pm
by tomodda
Fisheries Supply is great too, I was in their store in Seattle last year, it's a veritable playground :). It's also right on the North end of Lake Union, so plenty of nice boats to gawk at around there. The Samson is good stuff too, I think I went with the XE just due to what was on sale. My mainsheet is Samson from Fisheries Supply, my wife gave me quite a bit of side-eye as I stuffed rope into our luggage for the flight home!

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:00 pm
by RobH912
GL - thanks for your detailed reply (as usual) and a picture... pictures are always great and now understand your set up better.

It is very interesting...

Also, for that reason, up and downhaul are effectively continuous, so when I take the shackle off the pole I connect it to the mast ring and the pull tight the downhaul: stowed.
Great idea.

Until you provided more detail I also couldn't figure out how to access the eye strap from the boat when sailing.

Yes I may have gotten the the top and bottom bridle part wrong for a dinghy pole. The Selden pole for a DS (not a great picture in this link https://www.intensitysails.com/sesppoforda.html) looks like there is a just a jaws release line and then a topping lift line ??... looks like what I would call a bridle. Have not yet seen the actual pole.

Thanks again, always great info. :D

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:04 pm
by tomodda
The Selden pole for a DS (not a great picture in this link https://www.intensitysails.com/sesppoforda.html) looks like there is a just a jaws release line and then a topping lift line ??... looks like what I would call a bridle.


Rob: No, the Selden pole has just the "jaws release line" (as you call it), going from end to end/jaw to jaw. Pull on it from either side and you release the corresponding set of jaws. There is no bridle, just one eyestrap riveted to the middle. On top, actually, assuming you rig with the jaws pointing down (i.e. the eyebolt is opposite to the opening of the jaws). GL's setup will work fine, both up and downhauls tied off to a single snapshackle, and the shackle snapped to the eyebolt. I can take a photo tomorrow if you want, the pole is sitting in the corner of my home office, reminding me that I'd rather be sailing....

Dunno about up in Eastham, but we've had FANTASTIC sailing weather down here in central North Carolina. Of course, this is only because we're all stuck at home and I have my rigging in a zillion pieces as I upgrade. Sigh... Oh well, as a good friend always tells me, if I'm good enough to complain about things, then everything must be alright!

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:36 am
by RobH912
Tom thanks for more detail on the Selden pole. Must be a stock photo on the Intensity site.

When you get a chance it would be great if you would post a picture as I had the spinnaker pole sent to the Cape.

I'm away from Eastham for the winter, and with the virus lockdown not sure when I'll be getting back there to work on the boat and sail.

Oh well, as a good friend always tells me, if I'm good enough to complain about things, then everything must be alright!


Good advice from your friend :D

Thanks!

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 1:31 am
by GreenLake
I moved a few posts back to this topic as they weren't generic enough (in my view) for the "how to rig and fly a spinnaker" thread, but more about Rob's spinnaker pole setup in particular. Feel free to reply to either thread as seems appropriate. After some reflection I left some of the earlier posts - they seemed generically useful in understanding some of the stuff mentioned earlier in the thread, so I placed a back-link for context.

Re: Spinnaker Pole

PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 11:22 pm
by Fly4rfun
My DS1 came with a spinnaker pole, extendable, had some difficulty in getting it to extend, and when i did it wont lock in place when rotated. Any ideas on how to fix this?
G