Scott: I purchased a 140 sq gennaker from Hogin Sails shortly after Bert Felton got his.
I fly it often from just a couple feet below the masthead. The tack remains above the bow pulpet. I fly with and without the Main up. I douse it when the winds get above six or seven knots. I've never experienced a strain on the rig. Its lots of fun and really pretty. I don't find it to be much fun flying it from the spinnaker block. I've read Jerry's comment and yours regarding a concern of losing the mast because of the strain from flying such a large sail more than six inches above the forestay but I've found that by just applying some common sense I've not had any problems. I do, however, fly my 144 sq. ft. spinnaker from the spinnaker block located six inches above the forestay. I have much more respect for the spinnaker than the gennaker because too many things can happen with the spinnaker. The gennaker is easy to deal with. I have lost a mast while sailing in Redwood City Harbor on my Capri 14.2 in 25+ knots of wind. The mast bent just above the point where the shrouds and forestay attach to the mast. We were going to weather as best we could and trying to keep the boat flat. Catalina Boats replaced the mast at no charge, after the designer/owner (I don't recall his name) called me at home and lectured me on how to tune the rig. The Capri rig is almost identical to the M15 rig except for having spreaders. Rich Cottrell Really-M15 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
