Bruce, I did foredeck for a number of years on a C&C 40 TM/DK and when racing in the cruising class we ALWAYS used a whisker pole to sail wing on wing. We actually carried two poles on board, one for to 100% jib and a second for the 135% and 150%. Yes we took a rating penalty but it made the boat much faster when you could project the clew further outboard. I don’t believe the sailing rules at the time allowed us to pole out the jib on the leeward side using a pole but I could be wrong.
Our pole set up involved a mast track with a moveable car with a ring, A “pole up and down” continuous control line for the car along with a topping lift and separate downhaul for the pole which had its own bridle lines. There were also trip lines on the pole ends to release the pole from the car and jib sheet. This facilitated end for end gybes. Ideally the pole was always set at 90% to true wind and since the boat was slower dead downwind than 170 or so, we always tried to keep the pole square to the wind angle. We also found that keeping the pole low (at the mast and topping lift) would close the leech in light air and in heavy air, we’d let the pole go up a bit more but keep it controlled with a downhaul. On my own boat, I have a North Gennaker on a sock which facilitates sets, gybes, and douses. I’ve never tried to pole out my assym at the clew as I understood that, like a genoa, an asymmetric spinnaker wants airflow over both sides of the sail to allow it to provide the most power. I’ve seen racing boats that will put the tack on a pole to move the tack further to windward, but the shape always seems funky and I’m thinking you’d need a sail cut for that specific application to do so. So I’m resigned to doing more gybes at hotter angles rather than sailing DDW (dog slow on my boat). The deeper I go, the more I ease the tack line on the Assym to get it projecting to windward In any situation, having a ring on the leading side of the mast is essential to using a pole (unless you want a bullet style to do drop pole gybes). I’ve been on the receiving end of having a loaded whisker pole come around a bean me in the head in 20kts of breeze and I was just about knocked out. When the breeze is up, always release the pole at the clew first, not the mast when gybing or dousing the pole. Good luck, Chuck Gilchrest Half Magic 1983 Landfall 35 Padanaram, MA
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