On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 10:26:24 GMT, scudding along
wrote:

On a magnificent 23' sailing yacht,.. where do you store the pole?
I've never used one or sailed this boat but it came with a "cruising
chute" which doesn't look very big or like it would even need a pole.
More like a cheerful gib with a big belly. The pole is about 9 feet
long, I guess, doesn't telescope and had the fitting crushed on one
end. I expertly removed it and epoxied a wooden plug with a snap
thingy back on the end. It's almost half as long as the boat. Do you
really need it? Do you make brackets on the side of the mast and stow
it upright while trying not to get it tangled in the halyards? I'm
open to suggestion. Thank you and happy new year.

If you have a cruising chute, it does not use a pole.

A cruising chute is asymetrical, That is, the luff and leech are
different lengths. It has a head, tack and clew, just like a genoa,
but it is only attached by a tack strap around the head stay or
furled genoa. A tack line, attached as far forward as feasible is
used to conttrol luff tension. Both sheets are attached to the clew.
It is a reaching sail (close reach, beam reach, broad reach). They
can be used wing-on-wing on a run, but they tend to be finicky.

You might have a whisker pole which holds out the genoa on a run, but
it seems too long.

Spinnaker poles are stored in several places: on deck is the most
common. On smaller boats, they are offten left attcahed at the mast
and stwed by hardening the pole topping lift.

Jack

_________________________________________
Jack Dale
ISPA Yachtmaster Offshore Instructor
CYA Advanced Cruising Instructor
http://www.swiftsuresailing.com
_________________________________________