L'invention du double tangon en cinquo...

[jb dupont]

J'ai trouvé sur le net un post de Rob NAPIER, qui a "inventé" le double tangon en cinquo en ... 1970 !
Déjà monté sur le 3215.



Hi Dave,
As inventor(*) of twin poles in May 1970, I can speak with some authority.

I used them throughout the 70s with success. Other classes like Merlin Rockets and Larks took to the idea strongly, but not many 505s used them. The Japanese Five-Oh fleet all used them! I used them on K3215 (the originals), K4021, K5021, K6021 and K6723.

I rigged them up again when I returned to the class in the mid-80s, but my (then) crew thought they were wimpish, so I took them off.

They are good, especially with an inexperienced crew. At times even now I wish I had them, such as reach-to-reach jybing when it is really honking. But they are a bit fiddly, with more string and more that can break. Improvements in pole fittings, rope materials, better blocks, etc, mean they are less advantageous than they were.

You must realise that when they were invented, hardly anybody in 505s even kept the pole on the boom!! That part of the concept was immediately and universally adopted. Spinnaker chutes had just come in; I retro-fitted K3215 with a 'chute, and set about improving the pole system.

(*) See my article in Yachts & Yachting (UK), July 30 1971, also reprinted in: Yachting, USA, May 1972
Sea Spray, NZ, Apr 1972
Sejl og Motor, Den, 1972
Yachting Segel und Moteur, Swi, Feb 1973
Seacraft Power & Sail, Aus, 1972
Yachting, Power Waterski & Sail, S.Africa, 1972
FD Class magazine (I think)
Rob Napier Ex: KH1910, K3215, K4021, K5021, K6021, K6723, K7189, and K8021. Now GBR8429