I have been wrestling with this question in my head every since I read the post about diamond wire tension. I have recently been converted to catsailing from dinghies. I have learned 10x more about sail trim in the two months I have been sailing these beasts than the 10 years I was sailing dinghies. I guess cats react much quicker so it's easier to see the changes. Anyway, to my question...



Since I don't have a boom vang, I have to rely on the main sheet to keep my leech in check. This would mean in heavy air I would want tons of main sheet, flatten the leech. This would also mean that the main sheet is trimmng the upper portion of the sail (squaretop). Naturally this would lead to the downhaul trimming the meat of the sail. Except when I really heave on the DH and it bends the tip of the mast over and dumps load from the squaretop.



So here is the question, when I hit a puff, what is the quickest way to depower?



I would have to say NOT blow the mainsheet (as in a dinghy), this would power us UP. I would say NOT heave on the downhaul, too much line to go thru to get to the subject (16:1). I would say blow the traveler. Unfortunatly, every cat I have seen only has a 2:1 to bring the traveler back to weather, not enough even when it's only blowin' 15kts.



So what's the verdict?