On Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:28:03 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

With the tack constrained near the nose, going larger downwind
could get messy...

It's possible to float a symetrical spinnaker out in front of the boat
on a pair of light sheets with no pole at all but it takes constant
adjustment to keep it flying properly and there is serious risk of
getting a bad wrap around the headstay. You really need a pole to do
it properly. However, heading up to about 110 or 120 degrees of
apparent wind you can easily fly a symetrical chute from a tack
penant, or in light wind from a pennant attached to the forward point
of the bow pulpit. There is surprisingly little force on the pulpit
unless apparent wind speed goes over 12 kts or so, and it is more
efficient to have it tacked further forward than the headstay.