By Rich

Here are two side by side videos that show why Rover needs a whisker pole, stat! Here’s a video from our 2015 ocean passage from Annapolis to Newport on the Sabre 42. With the jib poled out wing-on-wing we are able to point straight down the rhumb line with an ideal angle to the waves for surfing. Note also how limited the roll is. Even with the centerboard fully retracted, the square angle to the waves dramatically reduces roll, as do the higher speeds resulting from surfing:

Now here is a video from Rover this weekend with no whisker pole. Note that most of the jib has to be rolled up, because it’s blanketed by the main and was otherwise collapsing and re filling with a shuddering bang, while drawing only part of the time. Note that we had to steer higher angles to try to keep the scrap of jib drawing at all, and apart from taking us high of the rhumb line this higher angle means a less favorable angle to the waves for surfing. Worse still, it means a quartering sea that produces lots of roll. Not what we want!