Bethwaite also talks about gust-onslaught response. He talks about wing masts being fastest in wind tunnel tests. The problem he had, was real world experience wasn't matching the theory. They discovered that in gusty conditions other rigs were faster. The wing masts are too rigid to bend automatically in the gusts. They developed rigs that automatically depower momentarily when a gust hits, giving the crew time to react to the gust, resulting in keeping the boat moving fast on its feet rather than heeling.
Seems like the windsurfer rigs are doing this also, but that the sails are cut to to bleed off power when you reach a certain amount of mast bend.

The closest I come to skiff sailing is an occasional sail on an I-14. So I don't have personal experience there, just seemed what appeared to me to be an important point in Bethwaite's book wasn't being brought up.

John
Miracle 20