# Foreguy at Mast Base



## dougc (Oct 23, 2000)

Hi Gang -

I''m leading my foreguy to the base of the mast, so it pivots on the same plane as the pole. This avoids having to ease the foreguy when the pole is pulled back.

My problem is that the spinny clew and the pole tip don''t stay near each other. There can be a 3 or 4 foot gap between the spinny clew and the pole tip.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Douglas Chew
s/v Challenger - Merit 25
Berkeley, CA


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Your problem may be as simple as your foredeck person needs to push the pole forward after the jibes and raises. It may be that you are not twinging the guy at the right spot, or it may be that the pole is too low or too high. 

The spin pole downhaul (its not a foreguy when it is at the base of the mast) should be run so that the pole is either free to move or is pulled forward against the forestay when there is no load on it. Some downhaul geometries will pull the pole aft. That''s not a good thing. 

Jeff


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Jeff 

Am I right? If I remember correctly, if the pole has a bridle, the turning block is centered on the foredeck under the middle of the pole. If the pole does not have a bridle the turning block would be closer to the bow.
If he is coming off the out-board end of the pole to the base of the mast I doubt that you could hold the pole down hard enough to pull the spinnaker to it. The bigger the boat, the bigger the pole, the bigger the spinnaker------ the bigger the problem. Plus; on a 25 ft. boat you might want to end for end the pole.

Walt


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

With all due respect, Walt, you are not quite remembering this correctly. Smaller boats generally have the pole downhaul mounted at the base of the mast. Under about 22 feet you will often see the pole without a downhaul (J-22''s for example do not have a pole downhaul). If the bridle is properly sized so that the bridle and down haul form a straight line between the pole end and the base of the mast, it actually requires less load on the downhaul to keep the pole down. People will often move the downhaul block some distance in front of the mast to keep the pole from bouncing around in a chop. 

It sounds to me like he is end for end jibing, which as you note really makes sense for boats up to somewhere in the 30 foot range. (My 38 footer is end for ended in light to moderate winds.) 

You typically start adding lazy sheets at some point around 30 feet in higher winds. Adding lazy sheets typically means adding one more crewperson over single sheets. And you typically start dip pole jibing a boat around 33 to 35 feet or so because using lazy sheets and dip pole jibing add two crew over end for ending and means more crew weight on the bow. 

When you dip pole jibe, the fore guy is typically mounted as close to the bow as possible and typically the bridles are removed from the pole. 

Respectfully,
Jeff


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