Shorty Pole

[jump12k]

I have a pole that came with my boat that is the same thickness, 4", as the spinnaker pole and has ends like my spinnaker pole but is only like 4 feet long. Does anyone have any idea what this is used for?
Thank you

[MicHughV]

it's likely a "whisker pole" it attaches to the side of the mast, to hold a sheet line off the rigging

[marcjsmith]

whisker poles are usualy a bit longer than 4ft though...


could it be for reaching. a jockey pole to help get a better sheeting angle, still seems kind of short though.



Or maybe the PO used it for a gin pole type setup to hoist the dink aboard

[Pandor]

Many boats with symmetrical kites do use a reaching strut (what Marc called a jockey strut) to help the spinnaker guy sheeting angle off the shrouds when pole is forward. Look for a place to clip it into the side of the mast.

[jump12k]

WOW!!!.... Been looking at that thing on my deck for a couple years and just sat there trying to figure out what the hell it is used for. Guy jockey pole!! Makes so much sense and I will definitely be using it!!! ....Thank you all so much!!!!

[MicHughV]

The Sabre 34...which appears to be the OP's boat has a beam of 10.5, so take off, say 6" for the mast width, that leaves 5' each side. The short pole fill fit onto a bracket on the side of the mast, giving it another 2" or so of distance.
The pole will fit between the shrouds, probably around 5' or more off the deck, at which point the shrouds are angled inward, and they are also located inward of the lifelines, so the distance between shrouds and mast could well be, less than 4', so conceivable, the short pole will extend out beyond the shrouds.
The OP is not clear on the lenght saying " only like 4' long" suggesting it could be longer.

It could be for something else, but my bet is that it is a whisker pole.

[jump12k]

Thank you MicHughV...It may just appear 4' by my old eyes but may be actually longer than that....I am excited to know what it's use is now and looking forward to using it!!

[JPA Cate]

If it's a jockey strut or pole, or also called a reaching strut, there will be a pad eye on the mast for the fitting like the jaw on a spinnaker pole, and it will reach outboard far enough with end end with a block in it for the spinnaker guy to be held off the shrouds when the pole is all the way forward. Used with symmetrical chutes.



Ann

[MicHughV]

I've always known this to be called a " whisker pole".
I could not say when or where I first heard this, but it made total sense to me at the time, as the pole sticks out like a whisker on a cat's face, and I've always used this term since.
As far as I know, this is a very common name for that pole.
A jockey strut or reaching strut also makes sense to my mind, but since "whisker pole" was here first, I'll stick with that definition