Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 1:05 am
I think the next one up may be too big, bulky & heavy for the Mac. These poles are not easy to snap. The fittings, however are a different story.
Delevi,
I only use the pole when I am deep enough that the genoa is blanketed behind the main and keeps collapsing. I do use it when I am still a bit off dead down wind running wing on wing. This is where the shorter pole hurts you. The longer the pole the higher (relatively speaking) you can point before the wind sneaks around the back and collapses the sail. Even with the shorter 6-12 I can get a fair ways up toward a broad reach wing on wing. It works fine for me.
It completely covers the downwind angle needs I have. Once I'm too high for wing on wing I can usually successfully fly the sail on the same side as the main.