[jbr]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. In terms of reducing sail area, there are several options (and assuming you have a roller furling jib): reef the main first, reef the jib first, reef both proportionately, sail under full main alone, sail under reefed main alone, sail under full jib alone, or sail under reefed jib alone (whew!). The question is what order to work through that list to match the sail area and helm to the prevailing wind conditions (it may be different for larger boats but I''m talking about in a planing dinghy)? Some boats don''t sail well under jib and/or main alone but fractionally rigged dinghys usually do. I''ve tried tailing under reefed main alone in very heavy (for me!) winds (20 + kts ) when I got caught in a storm but I found it impossible to tack. I admit I was trying to tack from a feathered heading and may not have had enough momentum to do it. Should I have tried tacking from more of a reach to build some momentum fist (ie, close haul or close reach)? I was so intent on controlling heel I didn''t feel comfortable trying that since it contradicts the general advice to feather to weather.