Downwind sailing is far easier than upwind sailing. So the obvious choice for going around the world is east to west following the trades winds with the wind at your back. There are a number of choices for downwind sailing: using a double headsail without the main, using a spinnaker with or without the main, tacking downwind with the main and genoa, and going wing and wing with the genoa poled out on the opposite side as the prevented out main. By far the best solution that we found on the Wasatch for downwind sailing was using a whisker pole. The pole would be deployed on the opposite side as the prevented out main and then the genoa pulled out on to the pole. This wing and wing combination would allow for an approximate wind angle of 120 degrees apparent wind from the genoa side through 180 degrees over to 120 degrees apparent on the main side. If the wind switch to below 120 degrees on the pole side, the genoa could easily be pulled off the pole and over to the main side which could then be used for apparent wind angles 120 degrees to 40 degrees on the pole side. Consequently this set up offered a hugely versatile accommodation for wind angles. It was only when the apparent wind switched forward of 120 degrees on the main side that a large change in sail rigging configuration was necessary. Once the pole is rigged I would often leave it up and in place for the entire passage. Perhaps the only better configuration than the main and poled out genoa would have been to have a double headsail with 2 poles. However, not having 2 poles and their set ups, I never used this or became experienced with using 2 headsails.
I had a Foresar 4 in. diameter 15-27 ft telescoping carbon fiber whisker pole. This pole was stored vertically on the mast. The lower outboard end had a jaw which was secured to a chock on the mast about 1 ft up from the coach top, while the upper inboard end was secured on a car which slides on a 1 ¼ in. aluminum track along the front of the mast. There was a 2nd stabilizing car 2 ft lower which connected to the upper car by a wire and held the upper end of the pole in place when it was stowed on the mast. The inboard end of the pole had a control line. This line ran from the top of the inboard car up to a sheave which swiveled horizontally on the mast just above the mast track then then the line went down around and up through the chock, and attached to the lower stabilizing car which in turn attached to the main inboard car. I used the upper part of this line to pull the inboard end of the pole up the mast and the lower part of this line coming through the chock to pull the inboard end of the pole down.
I had two halyards, a port and a starboard halyard which I used as topping lifts. In the lazy position the shackle of each halyard was connected to a loop of line which in turn was secured to a D ring on the deck near the chain plate of the forward lower shroud. Each halyard was then lead up to a free swinging block attached to a bale at the top of the mast. The halyard was then run back down and secured on a cleat attached to the forward lower shroud. I found that with these two dedicated topping lifts, it was much easier to deal with and control the out board end of the pole. At first I was using an extra jib halyard. But I found that when the pole was deployed out to the side, there was too much friction in the sheave at the top of the mast to be able to lift and lower the outboard end. I could only lift and lower the outboard end of the pole when it was pointed nearly straight forward. The two separate halyard/topping lifts with a free swinging sheave at the top of the mast made sure that there was no friction or wear point the entire length of the halyard/topping lift.
I also used a guy system. I found this system to be invaluable in handling the pole and genoa in any and all conditions. The guy system included a single line, one end for the fore guy and the other end for the after guy. The after guy was run on the deck out through a block on the genoa track as far forward as I could get it ( about 2 ft back from the side stay) and then forward to the outboard end of the whisker pole. I generally leaft this block in place even when not using the whisker pole. The fore guy, the other end of the guy line, was run through a bock near the bow of the boat and then up to the outboard end of the whisker pole. This forward guy block was attached to a 6 ft length of line which I then ran through the bow fairlead and cleat off at the bow.
Another helpful aid was to tie an 8 ft length of line which I tied onto the cutter stay about 6 ft off the deck. I used this line to tie the pole in place temporarily while attaching or detaching the lines at the outboard end of the pole as I was deploying or stowing the pole.