Ok somewhat related rookie question, we did the spinnaker thing on a NACRA 5.8 last year and been having a blast with it, or should I say it has put a whole new aspect on sailing a catamaran, and were getting pretty proficient at operating and pushing it; however, I still have a questions regarding the mechanics as to how this sail is working. My hypothesis is that the spinnaker (chute, Kite, big headsail, etc) is actually working like a parachute that is filling with air and pulling the boat to the point where it creates its own apparent wind to drive the main therefore accelerating the boat to the point that it causes the collapse of the spinnaker due to too much apparent wind.

We have been sailing the boat using this cycle; however, keeping ahead of the curve (collapsing the spinnaker) with “heating it up sheeting in – driving off filling out”

Any suggestion on improving this theory or method?