Sure you could close reach, but you'll probably make too much leeway to make it worth the effort. Broad reaching almost to the point of running is the best point of sailing for me with a gennaker, for close reaching I turtle it and hoist a genny.
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Sweet are the uses of adversity.
Entirely depends on how it is cut. How flat and how blown out. An full (or ugly) one may not beam reach as well as a genoa. A good reacher might get up the 50 or 60 degrees AWA.
We have the UPS and it seems to work very well, in light winds from 60 degrees to about 150 degrees. If it is windy, we have to sail at least 120 degrees or else we get overpowered.