what's a spinnaker and do I need the pole

[smallboatlover]

so i got a mistral 16 and it comes with a spinnaker and i was wonder do i need a spinnaker pole for it? what does the pole do? can it be used with out it

[Faster]

The spinnaker is primarily a downwind/wide angle sail, usually lightweight in order to fly in less apparent wind strengths.

There are two types, Symmetrical (equal luff lengths and symmetrical shape) which requires a pole, and Asymmetrical (unequal luff and leech lengths) which generally do not require a pole.

Here's a link to some video tutorials to give you an idea... much bigger boat here but the principles are the same.

Spinnaker « Wonder How To

To figure out what you've got, fold the sail in half down the middle - if the lower corners (clews) line up it's a symmetrical and you should have a pole and the rigging that controls it..