A spinnaker pole is a spar

Spar

In sailing, a spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fiber used on a sailing vessel. Spars of all types In sailing, a spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fiber used on a sailing vessel. Spars of all types In sailing, a spar is a...

 used in sailboats (both dinghy

Dinghy

A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...

s and yachts) to help support and control a variety of headsails, particularly the spinnaker

Spinnaker

A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...

. However, it is also used with other sails, such as genoas

Genoa (sail)

The genoa or jenny was originally referred to as the 'overlapping jib' or the Genoa jib, being named after the city of Genoa as explained below. It is a type of large jib or staysail used on bermuda rigged craft that overlaps the main sail, sometimes eliminating it. It is used on single-masted...

 and jibs

Jib

A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...

, 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 (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

, 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

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

 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

Guy (sailing)

A guy is a term for a line attached to and intended to control the end of a spar on a sailboat. On a modern sloop-rigged sailboat with a symmetric spinnaker, the spinnaker pole is the spar most commonly controlled by one or more guys.There are two primary types of guys used to control a...

, or brace, and the corner is the tack. For other headsails, such as a jib, the line would be the sheet

Sheet (sailing)

In sailing, a sheet is a line used to control the movable corner of a sail.- Fore-and-aft rigs:Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind,...

, attached to the clew.

A special line, the topping lift

Topping lift

The topping lift is a line which is part of the rigging on a sailboat; it applies upward force on a spar or boom. The most common topping lift on a modern sailboat is attached to the boom....

, runs from the middle of the spinnaker pole up to a block

Block (sailing)

In sailing, a block is a single or multiple pulley. One or a number of sheaves are enclosed in an assembly between cheeks or chocks. In use a block is fixed to the end of a line, to a spar or to a surface...

 on the mast, and is used to support the weight of the spinnaker pole. Another line referred to as the downhaul

Downhaul

The downhaul is a line which is part of the rigging on a sailboat; it applies downward force on a spar or sail. The most common downhaul on a modern sailboat is attached to the spinnaker pole, though this may be referred to as the foreguy in some rigging nomenclature...

, foreguy

Guy (sailing)

A guy is a term for a line attached to and intended to control the end of a spar on a sailboat. On a modern sloop-rigged sailboat with a symmetric spinnaker, the spinnaker pole is the spar most commonly controlled by one or more guys.There are two primary types of guys used to control a...

, or kicker, runs down so that the height of the pole is under positive control at all times.