Can anyone post pics and descriptions for a homemade spin pole?
I have a 14'6" windsurfer mast, a factory H-20 spin and plan on launching from the tramp. The pole is raw (pardon the expression) and I need yall's experience to help me along....I don'y know how to tell if the pole is carbon or F/G, it is all colored(dyed) green.

HELP!

I used a windsurfer mast for my H-18 spin set up, and have some pics. I'll post a description later...

How do you attach the windsurfer mast to the front crossbar?
I have the mast with a 3/4" hole in the middle.

The Hobie-18 presented a difficult situation here because of the way the tramp halves hook in. I tried to find out what he stock 18SX way to do it was to no avail. The answer for me ended up being a spare rear magnum wing mount that I had. This ended up making a stud that sticks forward that you a pole with a hole in it can fit on. For my case, I used an old gooseneck vertex on the stud, then drilled a hole from side to side on the pole, then ran a bolt through the pole and vertex. See attached photo.

And here's what it looks like with the pole attached. I had meant to put some washers inside to eliminate any side-to-side motion, but I never did and it was never a problem.

Keith: The SX attachment is similar, except the gooseneck base is wider.

Thanks for your replies. I went to the Sailboat Shop here and found everything I needed. Got to keep him in business.

I have a P-19. How much higher up the mast should the spin hound go above the jib hound? 24" or 1/3 the distance to the top of the mast?

Spinakerjohn

Thats the standard "safe" distance.

SpinnakerJohn,
Your hound height for your spin halyard is determined by the luff length of your chute. You should call the sailmaker that made your chute with all your dimensions and see what they say. When I did my P-19 mx chute I had an Aussie North 450 sq. ft. chute. If I recall correctly, I measured the luff pulled tight, then subtracted 1 foot(your sailmaker should be able to tell you this amount). I then took that measurement and measured from the tack at the end of the rigged pole until I intersected with the mast at that number. That should be where your hound would go.
Hope this helps
Todd A. Hart

spinakerjohn, I wouldn't go any higher than 1/3 of the way. It's cheaper to get the sail trimmed than to replace the mast. One goof up in a breeze and.......$$$$

Mike

arbo06, I'm fairly sure the carbon mast would be black. Your's must be glass.
Mike

What about the overall length for a H-20 spin pole? Is there a class min / max?

Arbo6,
Go to yahoo groups. In search type prindle. (Is that bad karma for a Hobie guy?) There's a group there called spinakersandsnuffers. This might help.

Thanks for the hound info.

Spinakerjohn

Mike, I just started drilling into the pole and it doesn't smell like glass. (?) Is odor a hint as to construction?

Eric,
You were interested in pics of the other end of the pole. Check the attachment. Because my pole is fiberglass, I worried that rivets and screws and the like might not hold that well. So, instead of attaching the blocks and bridles to eyes, I used Harken Ti-Lite blocks, and used spectra for the bridles, wrapped around the pole. The eyes in the pictures are there only to locate the lashings - there is an eye strap on each side attached with through-bolts.

And one of the whole thing.

If your pole looks anything like Keith's then it is glass. It's possible the construction used epoxy in in the glass pole. When I did this on my TheMightyHobie18 I used a alum. pole. A friend offered a glass one but it was much heavier. Maybe Keith could give us a idea how much his glass pole weights. I would think the carbon pole would be much lighter. The only thing I would do different than Keith's pole is to put the lashing a few inches farther foward than the tack block. I had my alum. pole set up that way. With the block set back from the tip some of the up load is transfered to the lashing at the bridles.

Are you trying to get this together for Miami-Key Largo?

Mike

The red pole in the pictures was actually pretty light. The main reason for me to use it was it was free! I say was, because I did end up breaking this pole - not because it was weak but because I screwed up. I spent a good amount of time mocking things up, but I neglected to re-tie the stop knots where the bridles attach to the bows (through a hole drilled in the deck lip) - one eventually pulled out leaving the pole unsupported, and it broke. Lesson - after you mock things up, go back through everything and make sure it's ready to go!

After that pole broke, I got another free one (lots of these things laying around...) and set it up the same way. The second pole is heavier and stiffer, it seems to have a thicker lay up. I would guess an aluminum or carbon pole would be lighter than the second pole, not much lighter than the first one. Lesson there - all windsurfer masts are not the same!

Tack block - the picture maybe exaggerates the situation, but for intents and purposes the load on the block takes up right pretty much right with the bridles. I wanted it be this way, because I figure if the tack block is any significant distance from the bridle lashings the load is more on the pole than the support lines, and if you have any doubts as to the stiffness of the pole... It's in front of the bridle lashings because the rearward pressure of the bridle lashings would probably mess up with the block lashing if it were to the rear.

The 18 has roller furling, and the forestay adjuster extends down below the furling drum. The usual way to support the pole would be tie a line around the bridle/forestay junction and the pole. I didn't like that, but I wanted to keep the functionality of the roller furling, so I found a Harken furler upper swivel - that attaches to the bottom of the forestay adjuster with a clevis, and the other end is lashed around the pole. The pole is supported side to side by lines running in from the hull forestay/bridle mounts and lashed around the pole just in front of the swivel. These side lines don't really need a whole lot of effort - I never witnesses any bending or flopping, and I never had these particularly tight.

Another look...

Keith,

Your pole set-up looks good! That's a nice spin too!

Eric, I posted this link on the open forum for you also,

IT'S EXCELLENT!

http://www.acay.com.au/~bundy/layout.html

Todd Bouton
N6.0na +