I do that frequently, come across as rude that is, I heard it's called dutch directness. No, I appreciate the interest.
It's hard to compare the yield of plants as it basically would require two plants that are genetically very similar except for the whorl trait, which would have to be fairly stable too (basically whorl at the same time/node/amount). However, I have had plants with 5-6 colas where the whorled (and even fasciated) colas were noticeably bigger, even in length. Quad fatter than tri too. Enough additional nuggets to make up for them individually being slightly smaller.
Just an example but it's quite consistent:
Left is a tri-quad-penta-whorled branch that ended up becoming fasciated. Two normal/late whorlers next to it, one tri whorled cola and a regular again. Was spread out (branches tied down) so it's not like the larger blocked the smaller. It was obvious with the main colas of non-topped plants in this thread too, but again, they are not stable enough to really conclude that is from the whorling or just a heavy yielding pheno.
It depends also on how you measure yield. Yield from whorling but otherwise similar plants is higher. I've long kept that open but it's undeniable. I haven't had the opportunity to grow one outdoors, but they I have very little doubt they won't noticeably get larger (as in more branches, leaves, and actually a tad larger) in a season and thus yield more per plant.
Indoor, it can" depending on grow style too, increase yield per year (less veg time per cycle to fill space with a certain amount of colas hence).
Indoor, per sqft or meter for example, per cola if you wish, it depends on a few other factors. To be specific, the whorlers that alternate into spiral with at least some node distance between each future nugget (axillary bud) in let's say the bottom 2/3rd of a cola, yield the best. Some of the whorlers that have 3 axillary buds at the same level total up to roughly the same weight of 2 on a regular. It seems the stem sort of forms a bottleneck. Of course when used for clones they will alternate regardless but the entire plant needs to be able to support the additional growth and yield potential.
So by default, no, wp does not directly equate to yielding more. Everything else being equal and in the right plant/variety, whorled plants can be used to produce more yield and faster in a given space, yes.
I do only seed runs. The number of whorlers is easiest summed up as "roughly half". With total plant count including 16, 36, and 50+. Apparently less in the cross I called P, but still at least 1 out of 4. Zero in a chuck with a super stretchy hemp like sativa, most in an aghani dom ICE cross.
The main obstacle at the moment is that the crosses that produce most whorlers are not good enough in other aspects. It has some ok phenos but not something I'd normally smoke. I can find whorlers easy enough in my crosses to do a large selection and use the best in other aspects but the bud still wouldn't be something I would recommend growing. That's also why I don't keep whorl clones, I can grow whorlers from seed and they won't be any worse. The whorl trait alone just isn't enough. The ideal result come down to a normally somewhat stretchy variety that fills up better, basically shorter node spacing from having more (alternating) nodes on the same length, besides the better phyllotaxy for intercepting light.
I spent a lot of time on determining which of the 3 outcrosses and the inbreed line with the CH quad was best while "best" is not among them. Half the P cross is great actually, but I selected against wp in that one and took it to F4 before I started over from F1. I decided to spend this year on creating something (bud rot resistant haze hybrid) I actually enjoy smoking and then cross the wp into that. With possible exceptions of some test chucks I won't be growing many if any whorlers for a while.
