Pad eye to fit track on mast

[Peter Kane]

I am ordering a whisker pole and my Beneteau dealer said the groove track on the front of the mast is for a pad eye for a spinnaker (or whicher) pole.  Having trouble locating one that would fit into this track.Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Bruce Bogdanoff]

I put a whisker pole on my B-40 mast. To do so, I ordered the mast track and all accessories from US Spars and then followed their instructions for mounting. I also added a topping lift and led all lines aft to the cockpit. In the cockpit, I added two small rope clutches to accommodate the topping lift and downhaul. This allowed me to store the pole vertically on the mast and then slide it down in place. Beside the cost of hardware, I needed to have a yard partially lift the mast up and slide the track up the groove. If you decide to do this, I strongly suggest you go with the socket end for the inboard end of the pole as there is tremendous torque on the pole ends if things get twisted.The pic shows the black pole vertically stowed on the mast and the control lines on the starboard side of the mast.

[Peter Kane]

Thank you, Bruce.