Whisker Pole / Spinnaker Pole ?

[Renoir]

For cruising I don't understand how a fixed length pole will work. As you change the wind angle the proper sheeting will make the clew either closer or further away from the mast and, therefore, the pole length must change in order to keep the sail from collapsing with the wave action in winds that are not strong, especially when the waves are big and you are being shadowed by them near the foot of the sail.

Obviously the cruising spinnaker or jenniker down wind will need the longest pole length. I have had both the push-button adjustable Forespar as well as the continuously adjustable line controlled length versions. The line-controlled version is much easier to change than the other.

I also use the pole adjusted as a strut to keep my Sea-Cure anti-roll device deployed well away from the hull when at anchor in rolly places. The pole lift hoists up at to bisect the angle that the spare halyard forms from the mast head to the pole end. A line from the pole end extends to below the water to the anti-roll device and another line stays the pole fore and aft from stem to stern. The resulting geometry is very stable and strong.