Hartley18, I know what you mean by Port Phillip Bay being nasty. I used to sail a Laser out of Black Rock YC and later crewed on a 25ft racing yacht & you get all four seasons in one day
. With the shallow water you get a short chop that can be interesting.
My brother used to have a Hartley 16 and from memory the sails were small enough to use brute force to handle. I wonder whether your option B might work. Alternatively have you thought of
furling the
jib as a first option and then run with the main only?