The Resourceful Sailor Configures a Spinnaker Pole Holder

One of the two last active Thunderbird sailboat one-design racing fleets in the United States is in Port Townsend (P.T.), WA. The other is in Boston. A Thunderbird International Regatta took place in P.T. in September 2023, with an invitation extended for Boston sailors to come to the “Left Coast.” Certain local boats would be loaned to potential East Coast racers, with one team offered Corvo.

The visitors brought sails and were allowed to set up the boat to their comfort. One of these adjustments was to the spinnaker pole holder on the boom. It is standard T-bird practice to stow the pole alongside the boom for easy access by the foredeck crew when setting the kite upon the approach to the windward mark and stowing it again at the leeward mark.

After the regatta, when Corvo’s regular crew returned to their steed, The Resourceful Sailor was tasked with returning the spinnaker holder to its previous position and style. The Boston crew had moved its placement on the boom aft, discarding the original for two rigid PVC couplers (one on each side) to accommodate their needs. Corvo’s regular crew preferred having only one on the starboard side. The trimmer and pit crew also disliked the farther aft replacement of the holders. Their size, hardness, and placement proved not only undesirable but also a bit dangerous. After the pit crew’s first inadvertent and slightly bloody knock on the noggin, the owner wanted it gone.

Some T-birds have commercially manufactured holders, but most seem to create their own. In Corvo’s case, I replaced the more aft and rigid PVC couplers with a single four-inch segment of three-and-a-half-inch diameter, wire-reinforced wet exhaust hose farther forward. There were already two holes in the boom from the pre-regatta installation, so I had to drill matching holes only in the hose segment. (The original was long gone.)

After determining the best length of fasteners, I threaded them through the boom. I added nylon washers as a dissimilar-metals barrier between the aluminum spar and the stainless steel Nylocs capped on the ends.

And that’s all there is to it. I made sure the hose’s wire had its ends tucked into the rubber so as not to be a poking hazard. The wire is key because it keeps the hose rigid and prevents sagging under the pole’s weight. The pole is retrieved and replaced from a position forward of the mast. There is a U-bolt on the mast end of the boom that the spinnaker pole’s jaw clips to. A three-inch hose would have worked for the two-inch pole, but required more precision “threading the needle” when returning it. The slightly larger size makes it easier on a lively boat while the boom is sheeted in, the mainsail is in the way, the kite comes down, and the mark is rounded. I’ll take it.

This simple solution is economical and easy, and doesn’t require overthinking. Part of the appeal of the Thunderbird sailboat is its economy and, therefore, accessibility. Sure, any serious racer in a competitive field wants their boat to be fastest, and effort and money are applied. But pomp is kept in check by remembering, “It’s just a Thunderbird.” While a spinnaker holder needs to be functional, beyond that, it doesn’t win or lose the race.

Filmed at the dock, the video below demonstrates the retrieval and return of a boom-held spinnaker pole on the Thunderbird sailboat, Corvo. It focuses on the functionality of the wet exhaust hose holder.

Remember, keep your solutions prudent and safe, and have a blast.