Guide - Choosing a bowsprit for sailing yachts
About bowsprits
A bowsprit can make it easier to go ashore from the bow in all possible and impossible places, as well as making it easy to board the boat safely. It provides a sense of security for everyone in the family, both young and old. A bowsprit can also enhance your boating experience in many ways, whether you have a motorboat or a sailboat.
Our bowsprits
We have bowsprits for most sail and motorboats. You will find bowsprits that are built to withstand maximum stress at sea, such as extreme code and gennaker sailing, as well as bowsprits designed for both comfort and safety. Several of our bowsprits also have convenient solutions for those who want a bow anchor in the bow and the ability to attach a cassette or hook ladder.
Choosing a bow sprit for a sailboat
Choosing a bowsprit doesn't have to be difficult, but to choose the right one, you need to have some information about your boat and the functions you're looking for. In addition to the size of the boat, there are primarily two questions to answer:
- Do you have an anchor in the bow and if so, how much does it weigh?
- Do you sail with a gennaker or code-0?
Which bowsprit that fits best depends on the size of the boat and gennaker as well as if there is an anchor in the bow. Also, consider that the bowsprit should protrude well in front of the pulpit so that it is possible to jibe.
To get an idea of how far the bowsprit will stick out in front of the bow, we recommend that you take the width measurement between the hull mountings on the bowsprit and measure where it would be on your boat. For example, on the HP65, the measurement is 330mm. Take this measurement and measure across the bow to see where these mountings would roughly be located (see image - A).
Then you will see how far it would protrude in front of the boat and how much space you have to move around on after the teak planks have been adjusted by sawing.
Note
Note how much the pulpit extends forward so that you still have free space in front of the pulpit to stand on. On several pulpit models, the pulpit extends far in front of the bow, and then a longer bowsprit is required to achieve optimal function.