broke my spin pole!

Heading out thru the surf. Hit a 6' wave straight on while powered up. The wave broke across the front crossbar and as the boat rose the pole snapped in half. I can't see that I could have done anything differently. If I turned the wave would hit me sideways so straight into it was the only option, IMO. Is there a proper way to drive a end pole snuffer thru waves without breaking it?

I have never even been in a situation that I had to consider what I would do with a spinpole in excessive surf. I have not sailed a cat out in conditions like that since I sailed a Hobie 16. I do not think I would try. I just had my spinpole break while coming into the dock when a new crew decided to use it for a "stay out of the water free card"...did not work. They are fragile on the pull down as they are only supported to take load from spinnaker tack.

Dan

Wow - that must have been a steep wave. I doubt there was much you could do - maybe a mid pole would help. Thats all I can think of.

Tiger Mike

And now he'll have a good reason to try a mid-pole <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I had it happen to me on the Harbour. Big cruiser doing some ridiculous speed making 4ft bow waves 4ft apart. Got over the first one and the second but the third one had me comming down off the second and filled the snuffer.
My pole only bent but it spoiled the run home.

I've decided that given the same circumstances I'll bear away and take them at 45deg.

I saw it happen at Virgina Beach F18 Nationals a couple years ago. A couple of youth sailors were just sitting around between races. Not much wind. Dare I say that it was at least 5 knots. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> A wave came out of nowhere while they were just laying in the middle of the tramp and put the bow down and snapped the pole in an instant. The wave was pretty minor too. I think the flat water exasperated the situation because it just flung the boat down and rocked the end pole snuffer into the water. Very sad really.

Mike Hill

I had a wave at a race last year take the bag off the mid pole hoop and then had the little line that holds the hoop straight tear out at Lake Pont. Never broke a pole though. I think the midpole systems are more likely to tear the hoop off the pole than damage the pole given that the support to hold the pole up is right there. Tearing the hoop off and damaging that is probably more expensive than just breaking the pole though.

Yes, you dare. And so do I.

That end-pole offers an awful lot of resistance in water... there are only a few left, AFAIK, and it isn't something that is stocked anymore. I think Mike Fahle had a line on someone who could make replacements - Mike? I had that same style snuffer head on the 4.3, though I kept it a lot higher than the Nacra boats do. It still dug in more than once and compounded already bad pitch-poles.

I'd agree with anyone who suggested you replace it with a mid-pole set up, even though that means getting your patches moved on the 'chute.

You don't necessarily need to add a patch if you make the bag long enough <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And what? Douse while facing backwards? At least the crew could see the last second display of shock on the skippers face before impact.

The pole is 40mm outer dia. Where can I find a replacement for this broken piece?

onlinemetals.com, http://onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=71&showunits=mm&step=2&sortby=od
or you can go stock from performance I am sure (if this is a nacra boat).

or www.mcmaster.com...though metric materials will be difficult to find, you should search for an english dimension.

Problem I have with replacing spin pole is shipping. Recently, had to replace mine only to find out that shipping would be more than the pole itself. UPS frowns at anything more than 6 feet. Fortunately, a local merchant had one in stock.

But was it 5 knots at every point on the course?

Wait, Magic 8 Balls can be used as wind meters, right? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thanks so much for the links! Heres what I've found so far...my broken pole is 40mm OD 1.8mm wall and 34.8mm ID.
I found a piece thats 38.1mm OD 1.65mm wall and 34.8mm ID, my concern is that the wall is too thin. Will .15mm make a huge strength difference? Price is $59.40 plus $25 shipping as I only need 9'.

I don't think it will make much of a difference but the engineers around could give you a better idea. One other thing to consider is that the aluminum from those places is not anodized (I assume you are going with onlinemetals). This isn't that big of a deal IMO. BIggest drawback is that it gets your hands dirty if you handle it alot... but once again, I'll defer to the engineers.

p.s. someone else had a good point about shipping. I am not sure where you are but you can sometimes find old windsurfer masts that would work or a metal supply store around that might have something that would work and save you the shipping.

You already broke one with the thicker wall...so the engineer in me says that the thinner one will not hold up any better. But for reference all the Nacra poles (N20, F18, etc) are .0625in wall (1.65mm)

.15mm ~ .006". Six thousanths (the thickness of two human hairs) is not going to make a noticiable difference and is probably about the manufacturing tolerance of the tubing anyway (based on the fact that it's only a $60 piece of tubing). I.e. if you measure the wall thickness at various locations along the tubing, it probably varies by a few thousanths anyway.

sm

So, here I am. Have acquired 2 pieces of extrusion and neither work. I am seriously considering turning this in on insurance as a mid-pole system is the only available at roughly $600. I would prefer to stay with the endpole system but apparently my current pole is european spec and not available in the states. Hobie cannot or will not give me measurements on their current poles so I have no idea if they will work. Any other suggestions? I have purchased a nearly new 3 point chute with a fiberglass pole and homemade snuffer system. Just not wild about the fiberglass windsurfer pole, would prefer aluminum. Fiberglass pole is light, not sure about its strength.

Could you measure the diameter of the snuffer?

Yes, but what will that provide me? Its an aluminum circle?

Yea I have to replace mine too. Don't feel alone. PITA.

Doug

Do you have pics of the fiberglass pole? It should be ok to use. I used one on my 6.0 when I added a spin and the very experienced sailor I bought it from said he trusted it more than the aluminum poles.
Can you elaborate on why the aluminum extrusions won't work?

Is it a 100% fiberglass windsurfer mast, or does it have carbon in it too? If it's 100% fiberglass, it may be a total piece of crap (or it could be half decent, but it will be pretty heavy). If it's got carbon in it (50% or more would be real good), it's probably stronger than the old aluminum pole - there's a reason that aluminum windsurfing masts are not made out of aluminum any more.

There may be a sticker at the base of the mast which tells you the carbon %, or if the mast is black, that's usually a pretty good indicator.

sm

The aluminum pieces I need are european dimensions, 40mm OD 34.8mm ID. Larger than 1 1/5" which is common. One piece was free, found a manufacturer of tubing that sent me a scrap ( 9'), they even anodized it for me. I told them that the ID was critical and they sent me a piece with OD close to my ID spec, whatever. The other piece came from online metals, they guarantee OD specs but not ID, this piece is approx 2 thousandths too small and not anodized. I could sand the inserts or hone the tube but that would create a weaker joint. The fiberglass pole I have has nothing on it, it is very light so some carbon is likely. It tapers to the tip and is wound by looking at the glass lines. I assume it would work fine but not sure. Don't want to deal with another broken pole in the surf, very risky at best!

if it is close, I would sand the inserts. WHat insert are you talking about? The part that attaches the pole to the front beam? If that is it I think it will handle the load if you had to shave off a little.

Contact Jill Nickerson of Fun in the Sun (or Red Gear Racing). She and Robbie Daniel are the USA Capricorn dealer (as well as other AHPC products). She recently quoted me a great price on a new Capricorn spin rig including the pole, ring, sock, halyard, and head-to-head block (for the one-piece design). The price for the entire rig, ready to go, was less than the $600 you mentioned. That price could have been low due to my good looks so I don't want to make any promises. However, it is a great mid-pole solution of a boat known for great fit and finish and Jill and Robbie are first class dealers.

Write to Jill A Nickerson, funinthesun(at)juno.com

I have Dave Lennards' old tiger pole. The hoop sleeves into the main pole and the attachment end sleeves on as well. He even sent a sleeved on replacement for the hoop so the pole can be used for deck launching instead of snuffing. So, the pole is really 3 pieces. I broke the center section which is 8'6" long. Both sleeve pieces were loose fitted and had been taped to prevent any slop. The extrusion I just received is approx 2/1000ths too small inside. The sleeves are roughly 18", so they do extend quite a ways inside the center section. I'm concerned that if I mill either piece it won't be strong enough. Would it be best to mill the inserts or the replacement tube?