TACO J-Lock SunShade System 60.6" Fiberglass Poles with Carrying Bag

If you've already got a TACO J-Lock SunShade on your boat, these are the taller poles that lift the whole canopy up and out of your way. You get a matched pair of fiberglass poles, each 7/8 inch in diameter and 60.6 inches long, plus a carrying bag to keep them together in the console when the shade's down. They're the 60 inch option in the J-Lock lineup, a step up from the shorter 48.5 inch poles when you want more headroom underneath.

Here's how the system works. The J-Lock bases mount to your gunwale or hardtop, the poles twist and lock into those bases, and the shade fabric clips across the top. These poles are the vertical supports, and that's it. The bases and the shade canvas aren't part of this set, so if you're building the whole thing from scratch you'll want those pieces too. But if you already run the system and you're after the taller pole height, or you're replacing a cracked or lost pole, this is the pair you need.

Why fiberglass? It's light, it won't corrode in salt air, and it flexes instead of taking a permanent bend when a gust catches the shade. We like that on an open boat. You can pull these out of the bag, drop them into the bases, and have shade over the cockpit in well under a minute. No tools. When you're done, they twist back out and roll up in the bag small enough to stash under a seat.

The 60.6 inch length is a nice fit for a lot of 20 to 24 foot bowriders and deck boats, where it lifts the shade high enough to stand under without ducking. On a taller center console with high freeboard, measure your setup first. The fixed length is what it is, and on a really tall boat you may find the shorter poles sit better or the taller ones leave a bit of a gap at the rail. It's worth checking your base height against the 60.6 inch pole before you commit.

Where these really earn their keep is the middle of the day. Anchored on a sandbar with the kids, drifting a flat waiting on the tide, or just tied up at the dock in July, a fixed shade over the cockpit changes the whole day. Because the poles set up so fast, you actually use the shade instead of leaving it in the bag. Anglers like that the poles clear the casting deck when they're stowed, and families like that there's real standing room underneath at this height.

A couple of things we tell folks from experience. Check the inside diameter of your existing J-Lock sockets before you order, especially on an older system that's seen some corrosion. A clean 7/8 inch socket takes these poles fine, but a crusty one can bind. And in a stiff breeze, north of 15 knots, fiberglass poles will flex. That's normal, that's them doing their job, but if you anchor out in the wind a lot it's smart to run a side tie-down on the shade to take some load off. Give the poles a look each season for any UV wear near the ends, and rinse the salt off when you rinse the boat. Treated right, they last for years.

Installation is about as easy as boat gear gets. Assuming your J-Lock bases are already mounted, you seat each pole into its base, give it a quarter turn to lock, and clip the shade across the top. Two people can have the whole thing up in a minute, one person in not much more. Breaking it down is the reverse, and everything, poles and bag, tucks away in a small footprint. Bottom line: if you run a TACO J-Lock shade and you want the taller 60 inch pole height, this matched pair with the carry bag is the straightforward answer, backed by TACO's 3-year limited warranty.