Gennakers and furlers: from Imoca 60s to cruising boats

We started telling you about how the Imoca 60s of the Vendée Globe make a contribution, theoretically but then also practically, to pleasure boats as well, whether they are sports or pure cruising boats. If we are talking about sails, the Imoca 60s have a sail plan that obviously has little to do with ordinary boats, these open boats in fact, which are getting faster and faster, sail with the apparent wind always rather narrow and gradually deep lift sails are disappearing. However, there are, however, solutions about sails that have already been transferred to the world of “boats for all,” and this also depends on the average use of sails such as gennakers by cruisers.

“Skinny” gennaker whippers also perfect for cruising

Stockings are gradually disappearing on the Imoca, as the large nylon gennakers have a cut and shape that is now almost obsolete for these boats that rarely sail full stern. Furlers for load-bearing gaits sails are the rage at the Vendée Globe, but to make furling gennakers, the shape must be fairly skinny in order to ensure proper closure. Lean sails mean gennakers that sail at slightly tighter angles than they would with deeper profiles. However, the concept is perfectly replicable on cruising boats as well. In fact, if we think about it, the furler is definitely more comfortable to use than the stocking, so it is much better suited to the cruising world. And on reflection, most cruisers rarely use the gennaker at very rested gaits: if there is little wind the gait would be quite slow, if there is a lot it would become uncomfortable. A leaner, furling sail, on the other hand, is also perfect for narrow reach with little or medium air, conditions in which a yachtsman would more easily use a bearing gait sail. For cruising, then, an A1 or A2 gennaker, made with a skinny trim that can be furled by the whip, is a solution that can be shifted directly from the Imoca 60s to a common boat, providing fun and ease of use.

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Mauro Giuffrè