[brucemcald]

Check around for a local sailing club or association to solicit the help of an experienced sailor to come along with you. The first place to start might be the o''day owners association (www.odayowners.com) and the e-mail lists here on SailNet. John Kretschmer had a very informative piece on the O''Day 23 in the Nov. issue of Sailing that might be helpful. And looking for sailing instructors who will teach you on one or both?? of your boats would be a good option. (Not clear to me if you own both the 27 and the 17 or just the 17.) On jibing, you might want to bring the mainsail in towards the centerline to have a more controlled jibe, or you can try the time-honored "chicken jibe", a/k/a "wearing the ship" and do a 360 degree tack instead of a jibe--its slower and less scary! You didn''t mention what you do with your centerboard--I assume the 17 has one, but I don''t know, maybe it has a fixed keel--anyway, if you raise the centerboard while running downwind, that may also ease things considerably as a boat can "trip" over the centerboard while running (I know this is true from my experiences on my catboat!)Finally, there are several ways to de-power the sail: easing the mainsheet and letting the foot of the sail go slack so the wind spills, and the reverse, tightening in the mainsheet and the foot of the sail to flatten it as much as possible, reducing the lift. You''ll have to experiment to see which is best on different points of sail. You might also want to invest in an inexpensive clinometer to tell you how much you are heeling--the optimum amount of heel varies for every boat and sailor, and a clinometer will help you find the right degree of heeling for your boat''s speed and your comfort zone.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Bruce
PS--what lake do you sail on? I''m a former Hoosier...