55.1 Changing Sails
When headsails or spinnakers are being changed, a replacing sail may be fully set and trimmed before the replaced sail is lowered. However, only one mainsail and, except when changing, only one spinnaker shall be carried set at a time.
55.2 Spinnaker Poles; Whisker Poles
Only one spinnaker pole or whisker pole shall be used at a time except when gybing. When in use, it shall be attached to the foremost mast.
55.3 Sheeting Sails
No sail shall be sheeted over or through any device that exerts
outward pressure on a sheet or clew of a sail at a point from which, with the
boat upright, a vertical line would fall outside the hull or deck, except:
(a) a headsail clew may be connected (as defined in The Equipment Rules of Sailing)
to a whisker pole, provided that a spinnaker is not set;
(b) any sail may be sheeted to or led above a boom that is regularly used for
a sail and is permanently attached to the mast from which the head of the sail
is set;
(c) a headsail may be sheeted to its own boom that requires no adjustment when
tacking; and
(d) the boom of a sail may be sheeted to a bumkin.
55.4 Headsails and Spinnakers
For the purposes of rules 54 and 55 and Appendix G, the definitions of ‘headsail’ and ‘spinnaker’ in The Equipment Rules of Sailing shall be used.
Note: The Equipment Rules of Sailing are available at the World Sailing website.