Poling out Jibs

I built a spinnaker pole for my Wife's Wave. We are doing this in stages and experimenting to have some fun. Yesterday was the first step, build the pole and experiment with moving the Hobie jib forward. (next steps are: fit a Tornado Jib: roller furling, call Rick about a Hooter)

The point of this post is poling the jib forward made a huge difference in performance. It is not great as Rick's hooter, but a lot more than I was expecting. If you are not familiar with the Hobie jib for the Wave; it's a tiny thing (15 sq ft), its' not attached to the forestay, it flys like a wireluff gennaker (screecher). It is also terrible, it's too close to main (2 ft forward of the mast), putting it on seems to slow the boat down.

I tried the jib at 6 and 8 ft forward of the mast. In both cases the increase in performance was all out of proportion to the size of the jib. Big increase in power and it lifted the bows, upwind. The 6 ft position gave better upwind performance and the 8 ft position gave more lift. My only measure of performance was a Prindle 18-2. Normally an 18-2 walks away and hides. This time it just walked away.

I would encourage others to experiment. If you have a spinnaker pole, it's relatively easy. Run low stretch line from the pole to the hounds an hoist your jib along it. Run your sheets outboard of the bridle.

This boat has real potential as a Portsmouth boat. It rates like a Sunfish and sails more like a Hobie 16

I've been thinking about experimenting with a configuration like this. Since I have access to a large selection of Highlander jibs and flying scot jibs... and I have a spinnaker/hooter pole, I figured that I'd give it a shot. If I stuck that huge piece of laundry on the end of that pole, I was wondering what would happen. You've inspired me to investigate this further, especially if you say it lifts the bows.

Is this the theory behind the Prindle MX pole? If so, is there any reason not to build the pole slightly longer and make a new forestay?

The MX pole is really to just move the jib tack down. This is more like flying a staysail spinnaker on a cat.

Keep in mind this is an experiment. Start small and be prepared. For example, it looks like the Wave turns downwind instead of into the wind when you right it with the jib on a pole. Think of this as something to try when the wind is blowing 5-10. If it works you can try it in heavier air.

On the Supercat the jib is extremely high. They use a pole that they call a pelican striker. It does the same thing, move the tack down. Clean and simple.

David Mosley