Submitted on June 24, 2005 by Sam Mazza

Question: Hi, I have four questions for you:

1. I have an Asymmetric spinnaker. Should I use a pole at any time to hold
it 'open'?

2. What is / how can I tell the difference between a spinnaker and wisker
pole?

3. How do I rig the pole to hold the 122% North Sail Genoa for a wing on wing pattern?

4. I have running back stays. When and how should they be used. I am
under the impression that only one fo the two is used at any one time?
(They are made of rope not stainless steel. I am not sure how much they can really support the mast...)

I hope you can answer all of them.

Thanks,
Sam

Answer: Hi Sam, the most common arrangement for flying an Asymmetric spinnaker on a cruising boat is to attach the tack to the centerline of the boat, forward of the headstay, with a single line. The clews are attached with two sheets, one on each side of the boat. You can rig a conventional spinnaker pole, and two afterguys, and attach the tack of the sail to the spinnaker pole. That will allow you to pull the pole aft which moves the sail out from behind the mainsail. The pole will need to be positioned very low on the mast since the luff of the Asymmetric spinnaker is longer than the luff of a Symmetric spinnaker. Gybing the sail is more complicated when you use a pole because the tack of the sail has to be dropped off the pole and onto a centerline tack line, then the sail is gybed, and then the pole is moved to the new side and the tack of the sail transferred from the tack line back onto the pole. If the spinnaker is the appropriate size for your boat, it will be too wide to use it with a wisker pole.

A wisker pole is lighter and smaller in diameter than a spinnaker pole. It is also usually longer and typically not rigged for use with a topping lift or foreguy. In light air you can rig the wisker pole by following these steps:

1) sail dead downwind, then flop the genoa clew to the windward side of
the boat.

2) hook the wisker pole to the windward sheet, slide the outboard end
forward until it bumps against the sail clew.

3) Push the pole out and hook the inboard end to the mast.

In stronger winds, follow these steps:

1) Sail dead downwind. With the headsail on the leeward side (behind
the mainsail), hook the wisker pole to the leeward sheet. Push the pole out while a crewmate eases the sheet.

2) Hook the inboard end of the pole to the mast. Cleat the headsail
sheet.

3) Gybe the mainsail.

If your pole is rigged for a topping lift and foreguy, you can rig the pole on the windward side of the boat, with the lazy sheet through the pole end. Then simply ease the leeward sheet and haul in the windward sheet until the sail reaches the pole end on the windward side of the boat.

Wisker poles work best when the sails LP dimension is about 10-20% longer than the pole.

Running backstays that attach to the mast at the same height as the headstay are used to make the headstay tighter. A tighter headstay has the effect of making the headsail flatter. A flatter headsail makes less backwind in the mainsail.

Running backstays that attach below the headstay are called "check-stays". Check-stays have the effect of straightening the mast. Straightening the mast has the direct effect of making the mainsail fuller, which causes more backwind in the mainsail. If you have an adjustable permanent backstay and your mast is able to bend, then the checkstays are needed to restrict the amount of compression bend. When you pull on the checkstay, the mast is restricted from bowing forward and the backstay tension results in greater headstay tension. So the checkstays need to be pulled on enough to hold the mast in column, but not so much that the mainsail gets too deep in the luff area.

You only tension the windward running back stay. When you tack, ease the old runner and pull on the new one.

Regards,
Dan Neri

Email North Sails with your question today!

Go BACK to Solutions for Sailors Main Page.