Gennaker/reacher

[Dcneuro]

Anyone use or have any familiarity with setting and sailing with a gennaker/reacher? I need some convincing that it is not going to be just a big pain setting it up for little return.

[JomsViking]

I seem to remember that Giu showed this in his videos. Search for that thread here. The comments thread is a sticky under "learning to sail".

It is not hard, I prefer to lead the sheets in front of the genakker, actually my sailmaker added a little "hook" on the clew that captures the lazy sheet (most of the time) for me.
Using a spinakker sock is great when singlehanding. That is what is shown in the instructional video IIRC.

[Melrna]

It really boils down to your sailing area and type of sailing you do. If your sailing area is large and can run downwind to abeam sailing for a long time than the sail will work for you. Also, if your boat doesn't go downwind real well it is definitely worth it. If you plan on coastal cruising or any offshore sailing it is worth the investment unless you like to run the iron jenny.
As far as set-up and flying these sails, with a little practice, it doesn't take long. Having a ATN sock or other brand sock to raise and douse the sail makes flying them a snap. I single hand my 36' boat with an ATN sock. Not that hard nor does it take a lot of time to set it up. I usually pre-set all the lines before I leave the dock and have the sail tied to the mast in a sail bag. With the autopilot on, on a DDW course, I raise the sail in the sock from the cockpit on it's halyard. I than set the tack sheet from the cockpit and pre-set the jib sheet. I than go forward, to raise the ATN sock. Back in the cockpit I than sheet-in the jib sheet to the required length. The whole process takes just a few minutes to do.
To douse the sail, I let out some jib sheet to start luffing the sail. I run forward, release the tack sheet and douse the sail with the sock. Easy Pease.
Since I see you are in Long Branch, NJ. Setting one on Barnegat Bay may not be worth it unless you have the crew to handle the gybes. The channel is small as well as the sailing area. I sail the area frequently.

[Mokusiga]

I'm seriously thinking of investing in one very soon. They can be a bit awkward to hoist single handed at first but everything Melrna says is very helpful.

I recommend getting your local sail maker onboard to give you some advise prior to buying the sail. Maybe more expensive than buying online but you will optimise the gear for your boat.

Our local guy here in Plymouth (UK) is very very helpful.