Spinnaker Pole Technical Question

Nov 26, 2012
1,654
C&C 40-2 Berkeley
Most boats that I have crewed on have the downhaul to the spin pole run through a block somewhere in the mid foredeck making it necessary to ease the downhaul when moving the pole back and tightening the downhaul when moving the pole forward. Why not put the block at the mast eliminating the need to always adjust the downhaul? You feel me?
 

JTulls

.
Dec 6, 2014
89
International 14 and J-Boat J80 San Diego
Yeah it's all about leverage, or the direction of the downward force. If you move the block back, the force the downhaul is providing gets more horizontal, which means you have to pull it on harder to get the same vertical component. It also means there's now a greater horizontal component which might not be good for the mast end of the pole.