I've never used a spinnaker pole ever, and don't own one, so I don't know what if any benefits it may have over the system I use which is an ATN Tacker. I'd had a spinnaker sail in the forehold of my B36 ever since buying the boat secondhand and it wasn't until last year, some five years later, that I began looking into how to fly the thing. I came across the tacker during a web search, bought one and couldn't believe just how easy it was to use. Any thoughts I'd had previously of getting a spinnaker pole went out of the window. I've also just bought a snuffer from the same firm that sold me the tacker in order to make it easier to gather the sail in after use, but have not tried it yet.
The photo below shows the tacker jury rigged on its first trial carried out single handed having never used a spinnaker before. It was purchased from "Seateach" in the UK last year for about £118 including the postage, while the snuffer was purchased from them for £220.
For some strange reason the photo attached has become inverted, so you may need to go to Australia to see it the right way up. I've tried to correct it, but my apologies to those who may have to stand upside down to see it !!
