A spinnaker pole is a
spar used in
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
s (both
dinghies
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...
and
yachts) to help support and control a variety of
headsails
A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing c ...
, particularly the
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...
. It is also used with other sails, such as
genoas and
jibs, when sailing
downwind with no spinnaker hoisted, sometimes using a special light spinnaker pole called a whisker pole, possible since the load on the pole is very light on this
point of sail.
Rigging
The spinnaker pole is rigged to run from the base of the
mast,
where there is a special fitting for attaching one end of the pole, out to
windward
In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...
over the side of the boat. There, one of the control
lines of whichever sail it is to be used with is run through a fitting on the other end of the spinnaker pole. This allows for more precise control of the corner of the sail to which the line is attached.
For a spinnaker, the line attached to the pole is the
guy, or brace, and the corner is the
tack. For other headsails, such as a jib, the line would be the
sheet, attached to the
clew
Sail components include the features that define a sail's shape and function, plus its constituent parts from which it is manufactured. A sail may be classified in a variety of ways, including by its orientation to the vessel (e.g. ''fore-and-a ...
.
An uphaul is a line run from the middle of the spinnaker pole up to a
block on the mast, and is used to support the weight of the spinnaker pole. A
downhaul or
foreguy runs down so that the height of the pole is under positive control at all times.
References
{{Sail Types
Sailing rigs and rigging