Spinnaker pole and boat hook storage

[BernieA]

I've looked around local marinas at the various ways skippers store their spinnaker poles and boat hooks. there are a variety of methods, including deck mounts, safety rail mounts, and mast mounts. None of them seemed like a very good method. the rail and deck mounts seemed to me that they could be interference or tripping hazards wile working on the fore-deck. I came up with a pair of brackets to mount on the cabin top. I drew a diagram, then sent it to my son who has a 3D printer. He printed a sample, then tweaked the dimensions to a good fit. I provided the ABS filament and he printed two of them. Both poles sit firmly in place, and can be removed with a quick tug, and popped back in place with a light push. thru bolted them to the cabin top with 3 1/4-20 panhead bolts, sealed of course, to prevent water seepage.

I'm curious what others think of this one, both positive and negative.

Bernie
CD 28
S/V Pinafore
Sequim Bay Washington

bracket 1.jpg (269.11 KiB) Viewed 541 times

Bracket 3.jpg (206.76 KiB) Viewed 541 times

[Jim Walsh]

Looks fine. It appears the handrail is still easily accessible, which is very important. I would be certain the whisker pole has some form of a safety line should it be dislodged. You wouldn’t want to loose it overboard.

[BernieA]

Good note. Thanks Jim.

Bernie

[Walter Hobbs]

Taking delivery of a CD 27 in a couple of weeks.

Looks like I could use these. Could your son print up a couple more? I would have to measure my spinnaker pole.

Thanks

[BernieA]

I'll ask him. You should know that with 2 ft of snow recently, the pressure on the spinnaker pole broke one of the clips. He's adding a little meat to that area and we'll see if it holds up better. The boat hook part was not affected. Another option is that he will likely post the design with an online 3D printing company where you would be able to order from them and have them delivered directly. There would be a nominal charge, but their printers are better than his and the quality will be better. Send me the diameter of the spinnaker pole and I'll talk with him.

Bernie
CD 28
S/V Pinafore
Sequim WA

[BernieA]

My son sent the pattern to shapeways.com and I ordered two of them, which will be printed out of nylon. The combination of high quality printing and nylon instead of ABS should make a much better bracket than the ones he printed at home. Once we have tested the result, he will make it available to order. It looks like each bracket will cost about $50, of which my son only gets a few dollars as the designer. Most of the cost goes to the printers. If someone has an idea for a part they can't find elsewhere, he can likely create something that could work. Shapeways can print in a lot of different materials from plastics to metals.