Hello Matthew
I have had both a yankee and a genoa since I bought the boat new in 2008.
I rarely use the genoa. When I think about it, the last time I used it was at the first CC19 rally at Mylor in 2014. It was during the "race" and coincidentally Charles was my crew on that occasion.
I use single reefed mainsail, staysail and yankee about 90% of the time. In light airs I could possibly gain half a knot by replacing the yankee with the genoa. But frankly it is not worth the effort.
If it gets a bit blowy for my usual rig, I simply furl the yankee and use mainsail and staysail only. If the wind drops, I shake out the reefs in the mainsail.
I use the same method as Charles when tacking. First let the yankee/genoa sheet go, tighten the staysail sheet and keep it backed. As the boat goes round, the genoa/yankee will slide over the taught staysail. Then set the yankee sheet and release the backed staysail and adjust the sheet for the new tack. I sail solo most of the time and it is not a problem.
On the rare occasion that I am sailing without the staysail, I partly furl the yankee/genoa when going about, to enable it to clear the forestay.
Hope this helps.