The
spinnaker sheet discussion below has started a side-issue about the favored direction of the
spinnaker pole jaws on the mast and guy. I
rig mine jaws down for a number of reasons: 1/So that inadvertent releasing of the jaws doesn''t bean someone on the foredeck, 2/ so that the guy''s pressure (when the sail is pulling up, the way we like it to) doesn''t bind the pin so it won''t release, 3/ so that the guy tends to fall out (due to gravity) when the jaws are opened*, 4/so the pole doesn''t have to be rotated to be dropped and locked into its deck
chocks. 5/so you can open the jaws, hook the pole to the mast and not have to continue holiding it up while you trigger the pin shut. We sail a fractionally rigged J/36 with a 1000 square-foot chute on a 65'' mast. Sometimes it blows hard enough for us to use double sheets and guys. What do you do?
*This may work especially well on Long Island Sound because of the generally light wind, too.