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 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. 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==