[mikehoyt]

I have been reading this with interest.

At the beginning of 2004 I was letting off backstay tensioner almost entirely and easing both halyards (esp main) in light winds. Boat was definitely faster using 150 when we pointed off the wind a bit.

Later in season I tried tuning the rig (DUH!). Paid off a lot as then tension on the inners, outers and forestay was far lower than I had expected. However we also stopped playing with the jib halyard other than to just remove the vertical wrinkle if too tight or any scalloping if too loose on a windier day.

As you can imagine the results were a bit inconsistent. I am thinking that given a bunch of years I will finally learn the sail by about the time it is dead.

Another very interesting tactic was using a different helmsman and spending my own time adjusting the sails. This seems to have worked very well but was at end of season so difficult to measure. Will be tactic for next season. Very difficult to let go though as the helsman learns the boat ...

Thanks

Mike