[tilipi]

I sail my Tartan 34 (hull # 451)on Nantucket Sound, Cape Cod, Massachusetts in all kinds of weather, mostly windy in the 15-20 knot range. I rarely put the board down. She won''t point as well with board up but I''m not racing her. One of the reasons I keep the board up is that there are some shallow areas where I sail and I figure I''d rather be drawing 4 foot instead of 8. Also if you run aground with board down I think a lot of bad things might happen (the board is locked in position when down and will not swing up on its own.
Just a side note about the Tartan 34... she''s stiff (have never buried the rail) even on those 15-25 knot days as long as Main and Genoa were properly reefed. She''s a
good strong boat that turns heads everywhere