A few thoughts from a user. There are several experts in this group
and I, too, would be interested in their thoughts, as I have not yet
made this decision for Fintry. The masthead wire is cheaper for us,
as it doesn't need to support anything but its own weight and to pull
the mast up from the lowered position.

1) Since the whip is a constant price, for a sailboat it becomes more
attractive as the boat gets bigger and the insulators for the backstay
go from expensive to outrageous.

2) The insulators interfere with several useful rigging options,
including hoisting a special sail on the backstay to prevent the boat
from tacking about her anchor. You want to think about possible
interactions between the top batten, the roach, and the upper
insulator.

3) The backstay rig is up and out of the way, but its feed wire is
potentially dangerous while transmitting. The feed wire is easier to
protect on the whip.

4) Many whips (particularly the cheaper ones) require a two point
mount -- base and two or three feet above the base. Others can be
mounted on a flat surface, but make sure it's strong, as there's a lot
of leverage in a seaway. (It's not called a whip for nothing.)

5) I get mixed reports on which will give better results. Many of the
people who answer the question have a horse in the race.

6) While Shakespeare is the "standard" yacht brand -- that is, West
Marine sells them -- you may want to look at Digital Antenna and
Comrod.
http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/antennas/ssb.htm
http://www.digitalantenna.com/ssb500.html
http://www.comrod.com/v2/Marine/pages/mar_1.asp

7) If you lose your mast, you still have the whip (yes, of course the
falling mast may wipe out the whip). This might just be when you want
to phone home. With the backstay rig, you have to have another way as
a backup (another antenna or some other long range device --
Inmarsat-C, for example).

Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com





(Grant Ziebell) wrote in message om...
Planning to install SSB on our 43 ft sloop. Question is should I go
through the effort to install insulators and use the backstay as the
antenna or should I go with the whip style. Have a radar pole mount
aft and could mount the whip there. Plenty of room and height not a
concern. Recommendations appreciated. Please include pros and cons
of either installation.

Thanks

Grant Ziebell
Pensacola, FL