Another outrigger Question. ( sorry )

[matty o]

Gday,

New to the site, From Newcastle Just in the process of setting up my boat for my first marlin season.

After some advice on what I have planned by anyone with outrigger experience.


My current plan.

Im planning to run Solas wishbone bases with 20ft poles.

Ive been told that the best place for the bases is up high. This will require a bit of welding, but nothing dramatic,

The only thing that worries me is the weight of the poles up so high may make the boat unstable.
Seeing as the poles weigh bugger all, few kgs, I doubt this is the case, but would hate to get all the welding done and than run into problems.
Is there something Im overlooking? am I worrying about nothing?

The boat is fine at the moment, Im very happy with its stability. just unsure what affect the poles would make?

Regards, Matt

[Muddy Toes]

Is there something Im overlooking? am I worrying about nothing?

Yep.

Leverage. When I was mounting my 20' poles I too thought they were pretty light ( and they are as they're the lightest and stiffest on the market) until a wise old soul told me to forget about weight and think more about leverage when choosing a mounting surface.
The poles might be light to carry but hold the pole at the very end with one hand and grab the pole with your other hand less than a foot up ( or however deep your bases will take the pole) then hold the pole up in the air with your hands at these positions and wave it all around, wave it like you think how they could flex when mounted to your boat whilst travelling on a rough day.

See what I mean.......not so light now mate.

[thelump]

Not a good test for someone from the steel city. Hard as nails down there Muddy. Could probably hold it with his wang without too many troubles.
Oh and I don't have a clue about outriggers but love a fellow Novacastrian!

[Jakers 69]

Carbon Fibre poles, and the higher the better. It wont make the boat unstable.Have a look on Peter Pakula web site for small boats and riggers.

[matty o]

Not a good test for someone from the steel city. Hard as nails down there Muddy. Could probably hold it with his wang without too many troubles.
Oh and I don't have a clue about outriggers but love a fellow Novacastrian!

Hahahahahaha I don't even need to say anything mate, You have hit the nail on the head LOL

[matty o]

Yep.

Leverage. When I was mounting my 20' poles I too thought they were pretty light ( and they are as they're the lightest and stiffest on the market) until a wise old soul told me to forget about weight and think more about leverage when choosing a mounting surface.
The poles might be light to carry but hold the pole at the very end with one hand and grab the pole with your other hand less than a foot up ( or however deep your bases will take the pole) then hold the pole up in the air with your hands at these positions and wave it all around, wave it like you think how they could flex when mounted to your boat whilst travelling on a rough day.

See what I mean.......not so light now mate.

Thanks muddy toes. Very good point you make there.

we have a good plan for strengthening the hardtop, Its only the extra weight up so high, out so far im worried about,
I guess the effect that the leverage would have on the stability of the boat.
Given me a bit to think about, Cheers

[matty o]

Carbon Fibre poles, and the higher the better. It wont make the boat unstable.Have a look on Peter Pakula web site for small boats and riggers.

Thanks mate.

Ive been spending a bit off time on there, and have even had the pleasure of chatting with peter a few times. He recommended the same thing, cf poles, longest I can put on, and up high.
Im just worried il do all this work to get them up high and than the boat wont handle like it does now LOL.

Regards, Matt

[fin101]

I run a pair of 20ft carbon fibre precisions on my boat, and let me tell you the load these things can put on the mounts is significant due to the lever effect. They are super light but the length is the killer factor. Wishbones might give you greater strength but you will need to beef up the material where you will mount the bases. It took me a fair bit of work to get the bases and the whole set up correct. Ideally the tips of your riggers should line up with the transom of your boat and be pretty high, only trial and error will find whats right. I actually used t top reelax bases but had a friend who works with stainless make me some nice steel support arms, he then made some ss sleeves that we slid up the rigger poles and sika flexed them in the right spot, the arms are attached to my targa and fold away when not hooked up to the riggers, looks similar to the set up on a big boat. I put nylon support blocks under the gunnels to help support the bases, the arms hold the whole lot in place perfectly with no strain on the glass at all. Don't angle them at 90 degs to the boat, doing this will give you way too much drop back, not good when you are using tag lines, might be ok for baits but not lures. If you set them up properly, when a fish hits your lure the line will almost instantly be on the drag from the reel. Like others here I had a good read and looked at the handy pics peter has on his site and it made it a whole lot easier to understand. You should be very happy with 20footers, they are a good length, too many getting around that are way to short, too low and angled incorrectly. Don't worry about instability , it won't happen. You may or may not need to go arms like I did, but it is a great solution if you cannot get enough support from the base / mounting, easy to deploy and you just use a spring loaded pin to connect the sleeves/ pole support arms. If you need some pics of this stuff I can e-mail them to you, hopeless at doing anything on a PC as far as pics go, good luck.

[Noelm]

They will not make your boat unstable, get them up high so they can't hit the water when the boat rolls, if they do, you will find out what leverage is all about!

[matty o]

I run a pair of 20ft carbon fibre precisions on my boat, and let me tell you the load these things can put on the mounts is significant due to the lever effect. They are super light but the length is the killer factor. Wishbones might give you greater strength but you will need to beef up the material where you will mount the bases. It took me a fair bit of work to get the bases and the whole set up correct. Ideally the tips of your riggers should line up with the transom of your boat and be pretty high, only trial and error will find whats right. I actually used t top reelax bases but had a friend who works with stainless make me some nice steel support arms, he then made some ss sleeves that we slid up the rigger poles and sika flexed them in the right spot, the arms are attached to my targa and fold away when not hooked up to the riggers, looks similar to the set up on a big boat. I put nylon support blocks under the gunnels to help support the bases, the arms hold the whole lot in place perfectly with no strain on the glass at all. Don't angle them at 90 degs to the boat, doing this will give you way too much drop back, not good when you are using tag lines, might be ok for baits but not lures. If you set them up properly, when a fish hits your lure the line will almost instantly be on the drag from the reel. Like others here I had a good read and looked at the handy pics peter has on his site and it made it a whole lot easier to understand. You should be very happy with 20footers, they are a good length, too many getting around that are way to short, too low and angled incorrectly. Don't worry about instability , it won't happen. You may or may not need to go arms like I did, but it is a great solution if you cannot get enough support from the base / mounting, easy to deploy and you just use a spring loaded pin to connect the sleeves/ pole support arms. If you need some pics of this stuff I can e-mail them to you, hopeless at doing anything on a PC as far as pics go, good luck.

Thanks heaps for that mate.
I havnt set them up before, but I will take my time, and keep at it till I get them right.

Im not sure if I will need support arms yet, the plan currently is,

run to pieces of 50X50 RHS up in the same shape as the windscreen, weld and brace to the deck and the hardtop, than cover them in 6mm plate, than make a bracket to mount the base too, that bracket will be supported off the hardtop, off the rod holders on hardtop and also off the upright we are welding in,
Will than paint it all up so it blends in the same colour off the boat. Hoping this will do the trick. I have a mate that is going to help, will make it out of timber, make sure it ticks all the boxes than pull the timber off and start welding.

Thanks for your help mate. Id love them photos if you could email them through in your spare time?? Ill shoot you my email address.

Thanks again.

[matty o]

On another note, Has anyone used the solas poles and bases??

Looked that them at the boat show, Look the goods, any one running them?

[Noelm]

Yes, they are OK, not the best thereIs, but OK, try to get one piece, the telescopic ones will drive you nuts when they collapse all the time, in the end, permanent gluing them together will be your only option, I have tried tape, silicon, and in the end, glue and a screw have now made them one piece!

[Jakers 69]

I run a pair of 20ft carbon fibre precisions on my boat, and let me tell you the load these things can put on the mounts is significant due to the lever effect. They are super light but the length is the killer factor. Wishbones might give you greater strength but you will need to beef up the material where you will mount the bases. It took me a fair bit of work to get the bases and the whole set up correct. Ideally the tips of your riggers should line up with the transom of your boat and be pretty high, only trial and error will find whats right. I actually used t top reelax bases but had a friend who works with stainless make me some nice steel support arms, he then made some ss sleeves that we slid up the rigger poles and sika flexed them in the right spot, the arms are attached to my targa and fold away when not hooked up to the riggers, looks similar to the set up on a big boat. I put nylon support blocks under the gunnels to help support the bases, the arms hold the whole lot in place perfectly with no strain on the glass at all. Don't angle them at 90 degs to the boat, doing this will give you way too much drop back, not good when you are using tag lines, might be ok for baits but not lures. If you set them up properly, when a fish hits your lure the line will almost instantly be on the drag from the reel. Like others here I had a good read and looked at the handy pics peter has on his site and it made it a whole lot easier to understand. You should be very happy with 20footers, they are a good length, too many getting around that are way to short, too low and angled incorrectly. Don't worry about instability , it won't happen. You may or may not need to go arms like I did, but it is a great solution if you cannot get enough support from the base / mounting, easy to deploy and you just use a spring loaded pin to connect the sleeves/ pole support arms. If you need some pics of this stuff I can e-mail them to you, hopeless at doing anything on a PC as far as pics go, good luck.

Fin, I also use 20ft CF poles from precision, can you add a photo of your ss support please

[fin101]

I will be happy to send them to you guys but you will need to PM me an e-mail address, cheers.

[matty o]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I just purchased 20" poles off precision rods,

Will be putting in my order tomorrow for a set off relax reef bases.
I'll upload a few photos once I have them installed.