My doubts about the snuffer out on the end of the pole or mid pole is purely aerodynamic. The A's are a very refined beast and hence getting less and less frontal area ( wind drag ) will give them better and better performance. At wave top ( hull ) height there is very little wind but up around the snuffer ( face height ) there is appreciable wind, enough my guess to affect performance by a small margin.

How do we deal with this blunt hoop and snuffer then. I have done a lot of thinking about this and found no real ideal other than having it run just under the beam or just above ( raise the mast 100mm x 200mm on a hoop should be enough ). Below would be better though but I guess waves and the like would be a real stopper if it got high enough to grab the spinnaker in its sock.

mmm lots of ideas here, any other options then !