For those who are wondering, I can thoroughly recommend a 'gennaker' instead of a spinnaker. Mine is from Elvstr첩m Sobstad, who call it a 'Str첩mer'. (Gennaker is registered by another sailmaker, in fact!).
With 80 cm of bowsprit, mine is from Selden, it can be used in all wind angles from a fairly close reach to almost straight downwind. Without the main up it can also be used straight downwind.
Now mostly a solo sailer, I've given up the spinnaker altogether, (too many hands/brains needed at once), and have worked out a routine for hoisting and lowering the gennaker which only needs one brain and two hands. As a result the sail gets used much more often. This summer I've used it often by itself, with excellent boat speed. As it is a masthead sail, and therefore big, it has enormous power. Over 12 kts of wind and I'm thinking of lowering it, 15 kts and I'm saying why haven't I lowered it already.
Sailing is now even more fun than before!
