Submitted on October 30, 2002 by Henry Vandelinde

Question: I plan to add a Gennaker to my Beneteau 331. I understand that had I bought the Gennaker rigging kit when I bought the boat they would have fitted a second winch on the cabin top to handle the Gen halyard. Is a winch necessary for raising and/ or tensioning the halyard of a G2 or G3 if the system is raised and lowered in a snuffer? I often single hand with auto pilot and expect that I will generally only use the Gen when winds are under 10 knots.

I assume that if I were to go to a GO I would need a winch to adequately tension the luff rope.

Henry

Answer: Hi Henry,

On a relatively small boat like your Beneteau 331, you will not have any trouble raising the gennaker and snuffer without a winch. However, you should have the ability to bring the tail of the halyard to a winch in the event that the halyard slips, or if you have some problem with the snuffer and need to lower the sail without the aid of the snuffer. To lower the sail, you can use a winch that is loaded with another halyard as a snubber by wrapping the gennaker halyard over the top of the loaded halyard.

Regards, Dan Neri

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