A spinnaker pole is a
spar used in
sailboats
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 ...
(both
dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, whic ...
s and
yachts) to help support and control a variety of
headsails, particularly the
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually ny ...
. However, it is also used with other sails, such as
genoas and
jibs, when sailing
downwind with no spinnaker hoisted. (Since the load on a spinnaker pole is very light on this
point of sailing, sometimes a special light spinnaker pole called a whisker pole is used in these circumstances.)
The spinnaker pole is rigged to run from the base of the
mast
Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to:
Engineering
* Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship
* Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag
* Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires
* Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship
* Radio mas ...
, where there is a special fitting for attaching one end of the pole, out to
windward 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
TACK is a group of archaea acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota, the first groups discovered. They are found in different environments ranging from acidophilic ...
. For other headsails, such as a jib, the line would be the
sheet, attached to the
clew.
A special line, the
topping lift, runs 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. Another line referred to as the
downhaul or
foreguy runs down so that the height of the pole is under positive control at all times.
{{Sail Types
Sailing rigs and rigging