Questions About Whisker Pole

[and4ew]

When I bought my Bayfield 29 Cutter it did not come with a whisker pole. I'm shopping for a new one and have some questions:

- My previous boat, a Contessa 26, had a simple whisker pole, it clipped onto a horizontal "O-shaped" ring that could slide up and down the mast, a couple of feet in each direction. The other end of the pole was a pointy piece of plastic with a rounded end. I simply poked the pointy end into the jib's cringle and, with a trimmed sheet, it stayed in place. Looking online I find that there are more complex things that people do with whisker poles.



- What determines when a whisker pole needs a topping lift (I think that's what the line that holds up the middle of the pole is called)? What is the purpose of this? Is it just to make it easy to handle or is it to take the weight of the pole off the sail and therefore improve sail shape?

- I see that people connect the pole to the main sheet rather than to the cringle. Why is that?

- Some pictures I saw seemed to show a line attached to the sail end of the pole and running forward and around the forestay. I don't think this would work for a cutter rig and the pole would be on the staysail, which is on the bobstay. What is the purpose of that line and should I consider it?


- As I have roller furling, I'm thinking I should have a telescoping pole. I believe the length required is sometimes refereed to as "J2", i.e. the distance from the mast to the bobstay (the sail is 100%). I understand that there's a lot of pressure on the pole and I don't want it to fold up. If it's telescoped out to its full length then it seems to me it would be at its weakest. Should I get a longer one so that it's never fully extended and therefore has greater strength?