Is a gennaker useful in the Bahamas.

[doprin]

Hello

I am upgrading my 40 ft Hunter sailboat for my first cruising adventure to the Bahamas/Caribbean.

I am thinking about the purchase of a gennaker.

I have mixed opinions from club members i have spoken to. Some have just gone with their jibs. Don't spend the money on a gennaker.

Does anyone out their have experience with gennaker use in Bahamas/Caribbean.

Doug

[chris mac]

We have an asym as our light wind sail. Last year we were in the Bahamas for 6 month an I would guess we used it 15-20 times.
Our buddy boat for a couple months,a hunter45, had one but had never flown it. They ended up using theirs a few times too.
However, they had never flown it before and were still happily sailing along.
It's useful, definately. But to me it's more of a toy. Something to play with, it also gets you to the next anchorage in 4 hours instead of 6. Which doesn't make that big of a difference in the big picture.
So it really depends on you, and where you want to spend your money.