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Choosing a pole for your cruising sailboat can make your sailing experience safer, easier and hopefully will encourage you to sail more. We tend to just use the term “pole” when distinguishing a whisker pole or a spinnaker pole when talking about cruisers (remember, a spinnaker pole can be a whisker pole, but a whisker pole cannot always be a spinnaker pole).  Although adjustable poles may seem easier to use and modify, we prefer finding a fixed length pole is stronger, easier to use and free from many of the issues found in adjustable poles (which, ironically, includes adjusting them).

Poles are measured in “J” length, “J” is the distance between the base of the fore triangle measured from the front of the mast, to the intersection of the forestay and deck. Spinnaker poles are generally built to “J” length, and built to resist higher loads than whisker poles, which are generally built 10 percent longer than the measured “J”. If you’re sailing on a cutter, cutters generally have a much longer J length than sloops, so poles for cutters are generally around 10% beyond J.

A pole measured to J can be used as a good whisker and spinnaker pole, and this pole can also be used with an asymmetrical spinnaker when traveling dead down wind. While asymmetrical spinnakers do not require a pole for beam and broad reaching, poling out the track of an asymmetrical is common for sailing dead down in and as you know is required for sailing below a beam reach with the genoa.

Getting a fixed length pole at 110 percent of your ship’s measured “J” length will provide you with both a good whisker and spinnaker pole, with reliable strength that should still be easy to manage. This will give you a greater angle of sail or for use with larger genoas, the cost is going to be nominal for the extra length, and well worth it in its diversity.

When picking ends for your pole, costs will vary depending on how your pole will be used and stored. True spinnakers are double ended so that end-for-end gybes are possible, a pole to be used with an asymmetrical or genoa can have a socket fitting to a mast track and never needs to come off the mast. Poles that will be used in off-shore sailing require that the fitting be more stoutly built.

The final choice is now between carbon and aluminum, for poles over 16’, we definitely recommend going with carbon. Carbon is more expensive, but for a reason, it’s lighter, easier to handle and much stronger. If the price difference scares you, remember that to get the same amount of strength in an aluminum pole, it must be bigger and heavier, raising costs and making it harder to handle.