This item is hypothetical and NOT subject to any protest. Please let me know if there is any issue. Which rule (if any) makes it illegal to help wing the jib with a boom crutch or other stick, and in this specific situation, does RRS 55.3 apply?
The boat/class in question has a jib boom, so the winging would not need to control the sheets specifically, and could simply push on the boom or the sail itself. The fleet has the following class rule which may or may not be relevant to using a different piece of equipment: image.png15 KB
First check definitions from The Equipment Rules of Sailing
F 1.3 Spar(s)
The main structural part(s) of the rig to which sails are connected. It
includes its fittings and any corrector weights.
F 1.4 (d)(ii) WHISKER POLE
A spar attached to the mastspar and connected to a headsail
clew.
C 6.3 (g) CONNECT
To bring together or into contact so that a real link is established by
which one item affects the function of the other; therefore includes
“attached to” and “sheeted to” the corner of the sail.
A boom crutch may be used as a whisker pole if it connects to the mast and the headsail clew. If it is merely pushing on the jib boom or sail itself, it is not a whisker pole.
The next question would be whether it meets the minimum length.
The last issue is whether the "real link" required to be a connector requires attachment to the mast or sail. I think I would argue that to be a connector, it must be a continuous connector while deployed, by which I mean it can't merely be wedged between the sail clew and the mast, but must stay attached to the clew even if the sail is eased.
I would say if it meets those 4 conditions--length, material, "connects" to mast, "connects" to headsail clue--it is a legal whisker pole.
Niko .. let me get this straight. The class in question has a jib boom (self-tacking setup). What we are asking to do is not attach anything to the sail .. but to attach to the jib-boom at some location along the jib-boom to hold it out down-wind?
I know several boats that do that with a hydraulic piston that they buy at an auto parts store (same piston that holds open your hatchback. The anchor one side of the piston on the centerline of the bow and the other somewhere along the jib-boom. It does a nice job and if sized and installed correctly ... it doesn't put up a fight when tacking or gybing to get the boom across.
Hi Angelo, Thanks for the question. The idea isn't to attach anything, just to hold it out manually with a short stick, maybe a paddle or 2-foot boom crutch. (To be clear, not my idea, but something someone bandied about after racing on a light-wind day.)
For example, the Hereshoff 12-1/2 class specifically allowed that starting in 2019. image.png21.9 KB
To Nikos' H Class example, RRS 86.1 (c) says Class rules may change RRS 55. H Class can make the change, though I would be a lot happier if they noted the change to RRS 55 somewhere. H Class rules are not a great example of precision and clarity in any case. In the H Class usage, however, the boom crutch would not qualify as a whisker pool as cited in the OP class rule above.
55.3 definitely applies, so you can't apply pressure from your device outside the sheerline. If the jib tack is right on the stem that means pretty much anywhere on the boom is going to be prohibited. What you can do depends on the fine detail of the setup. Suggest you post what the actual class is and class rules. On many modern Int Canoes, for instance, the jib boom projects beyond the tack to be used as a vang, and one may also attach lines or shock cord to act as a sort of reverse sheet.
Thanks Jim, I was thinking 55.3 applied but someone said "well it's about being 'sheeted through' not 'pressured by'". Do you have an intelligent response to this I could use if the topic comes up again? Thanks again!
Thank you Rene! This talks all about holding the sheet out. What do you think about if you're pushing on the jib boom or directly on the sail? Is that a valid loophole, or would it be treated the same way?
"Bumkin" definition from The Equipment Rules of Sailing
F.1.4(c)(ii) BUMKIN
A hullspar extending aft of the hull to connectrigging.
(From Boomkin, "little boom," where "boom" comes from "tree" in Dutch)
I can't see that any random stick would qualify as a "hull spar." And by definition, it must be aft of the hull, so it is hard to imagine attaching it to a headsail.
Ok .. it seems to me in this case, the clew of the sail is sheeted to a boom which qualifies under 55.3(c). 55.3(c) is an "exception" to the main text and limits of 55.3's 1st sentence.
Now that 55.3's first sentence doesn't apply ... where in the rules does it say you can't exert a forward force against a boom with a stick .. inside or outside the shear line?
Such a stick is neither a spin nor whisker pole,
Other Spar Types: (i) SPINNAKER POLE A spar attached to the mast spar and connected to a spinnakerguy. (ii) WHISKER POLE A spar attached to the mastspar and connected to a headsail clew.
The device that is exerting the outward pressure on the sail is the 55.3(c)-allowed boom .. not the "stick" in question. The stick in question is exerting a forward pressure on the boom .. not an outward pressure on the sheet or clew.
I can't find a rule which limits the stick as long as the stick is applying pressure only to a 55.3(c)- qualifying boom.
F 1.3 Spar(s)
F 1.4 (d)(ii) WHISKER POLE
C 6.3 (g) CONNECT
A boom crutch may be used as a whisker pole if it connects to the mast and the headsail clew. If it is merely pushing on the jib boom or sail itself, it is not a whisker pole.
The next question would be whether it meets the minimum length.
The last issue is whether the "real link" required to be a connector requires attachment to the mast or sail. I think I would argue that to be a connector, it must be a continuous connector while deployed, by which I mean it can't merely be wedged between the sail clew and the mast, but must stay attached to the clew even if the sail is eased.
I would say if it meets those 4 conditions--length, material, "connects" to mast, "connects" to headsail clue--it is a legal whisker pole.
I know several boats that do that with a hydraulic piston that they buy at an auto parts store (same piston that holds open your hatchback. The anchor one side of the piston on the centerline of the bow and the other somewhere along the jib-boom. It does a nice job and if sized and installed correctly ... it doesn't put up a fight when tacking or gybing to get the boom across.
Thanks for the question. The idea isn't to attach anything, just to hold it out manually with a short stick, maybe a paddle or 2-foot boom crutch. (To be clear, not my idea, but something someone bandied about after racing on a light-wind day.)
For example, the Hereshoff 12-1/2 class specifically allowed that starting in 2019.
In the H Class usage, however, the boom crutch would not qualify as a whisker pool as cited in the OP class rule above.
I was thinking 55.3 applied but someone said "well it's about being 'sheeted through' not 'pressured by'".
Do you have an intelligent response to this I could use if the topic comes up again? Thanks again!
Sydney to Hobart Protest - Rule 55.3 Explained
This talks all about holding the sheet out. What do you think about if you're pushing on the jib boom or directly on the sail? Is that a valid loophole, or would it be treated the same way?
F.1.4(c)(ii) BUMKIN
(From Boomkin, "little boom," where "boom" comes from "tree" in Dutch)
I can't see that any random stick would qualify as a "hull spar." And by definition, it must be aft of the hull, so it is hard to imagine attaching it to a headsail.
Now that 55.3's first sentence doesn't apply ... where in the rules does it say you can't exert a forward force against a boom with a stick .. inside or outside the shear line?
Such a stick is neither a spin nor whisker pole,
The device that is exerting the outward pressure on the sail is the 55.3(c)-allowed boom .. not the "stick" in question. The stick in question is exerting a forward pressure on the boom .. not an outward pressure on the sheet or clew.
I can't find a rule which limits the stick as long as the stick is applying pressure only to a 55.3(c)- qualifying boom.