There are two kinds of righting poles: mounted at the center of the front beam or at the daggerboard well. I think "Hobie Gary" is the precursor of the latter. I like more the daggerboard mounted, though it might be harder to recover and store after righting. The big advantage is that you walk above it, instead of hanging from it, which appears to be less effective or require more length. I think you normally use hands and legs to go out hanging from the pole and therefore your center of mass is not totally out. Or if you just hang from the hands, you need to set it with a good angle to avoid that your legs touch the water too soon. On the daggerboard mounted you sit on it and walk backwards, with your center of mass a bit more out and also in a much more comfortable and stable position..
Here is a good version of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTRS5pTZGV4
Instead of inserting anything to the daggerboard well, I did a very simple version: just a loop with a strap at the base of the pole, to put the daggerboard in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKuSSZ7JxBA
Really easy to do, with just a couple rivets and washers. I think this method requires a few more cm of length and would probably not be possible to store along the beam. I store it below the tramp, along one of the hulls. If stored centered on the tramp (like you should with the poles mounted at the center of the beam), it is a bit painful to walk on it when you forget it's there, either when sailing or when raising the mast.
Windsurf masts are more resistant than aluminum poles, my first one was aluminum and it broke at the first trial..
Edited by Andinista on Jan 26, 2014 - 08:27 PM.