New Boat Questions: Spinnaker pole and spreaders
Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 2:57 pm
I just received my brand new Musto Skiff in the US on Sunday. The boat is straight from Ovington: Great excitement. My first action was to inventory everything and look at basic mechanics. My first questions come around the self-launching spinnaker pole. I was at the recent Datchet regatta and took advantage of looking at as many boats as I could and talked with many of the sailors. Several folks said the spinnaker pole should extend to its max length.
My pole extension is limited by the length of the tack line. When the tack line is taught (with 2" of line to a bowline for the kite) and is stopped by a stopper ball Ovington puts on the tackline, the extension line (stern end of pole) is 3" behind the block on the bow. It looks like I could replace the tack line with a longer line and gain 3" extension on the pole. Is this advisable?
Also, I was trying to get my spreaders to 385mm length, measuring from shroud to nearest point on the mast. When I extend the spreader all the way, the best I can get is 380mm. This seems short so I am thinking I am measuring improperly. I am using the default hole settings on the spreaders but I have not measured the deflection yet. I assume deflection is measured by taking a straight edge from spreader to spreader and measuring the distance to the sail track? Is this correct?
My pole extension is limited by the length of the tack line. When the tack line is taught (with 2" of line to a bowline for the kite) and is stopped by a stopper ball Ovington puts on the tackline, the extension line (stern end of pole) is 3" behind the block on the bow. It looks like I could replace the tack line with a longer line and gain 3" extension on the pole. Is this advisable?
Also, I was trying to get my spreaders to 385mm length, measuring from shroud to nearest point on the mast. When I extend the spreader all the way, the best I can get is 380mm. This seems short so I am thinking I am measuring improperly. I am using the default hole settings on the spreaders but I have not measured the deflection yet. I assume deflection is measured by taking a straight edge from spreader to spreader and measuring the distance to the sail track? Is this correct?