You are a truly great bunch, thanks very much!

Thinking about what went wrong, I probably did everything wrong at one time or another...

I'm sure I was late reversing the rudders a couple of times because I was watching the waves in stead of the rudder wake itself...

The tip about luffing up to help sheet in the main is brilliant (maybe not in a race, but this was a survival situation!), I won't forget that one.

I'm positive I almost always kept the main tight far too long into the tack. That's a keelboat flaw that I know I suffer from.

Bottom line is: I obviously need more practice. With these tips I can really focus on fixing my technique. Thanks a lot, who knows, maybe one of you just saved me from a lee shore!