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I would guess this was a masthead rig with a large genny. Tacking this big sail requires a smooth quick turn through the eye of the wind, nothing to snag the sheets of course and taking up the working sheet quickly so the sail does not flog as the bow passes through the eye of the wind. If you don't take up the slack in the lazy sheet pronto a mess can ensue.
I suspect they were short handed, the wind was brisk and the crew did not know how to tack the boat quickly enough. Even bearing off on the new tack would be better than lolly gogging in the eye of the wind.
Try to keep the lazy sheet as short, tight and fair as possible and don't release the working sheet until the bow is thru the eye of the wind... and take up the lazy sheet as quickly as possible.
I single hand a fractional rig and haven't had this problem, but with a large overlapping genny this could become a mess as the sheets are even longer.
good luck
jef
sv shiva
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