Crew will continue to adjust cunningham as conditions pick up, but if you're getting knock-down gusts less than a minute apart, I'm betting you need that cunningham all the way down. I generally keep the traveller all the way UP until the cunningham is all the way DOWN. Mainsheet trim is the only adjustment made in-between making those finer adjustments.

ps - many classes develop a cheat sheet like on page 34 of the Capricorn Owners Manual at http://www.ahpc.com.au/pdf/Capricorn%20F18%20Owners%20Manual%20v1.2.pdf