Well, I certainly don't mean to sound condescending about it. I personally managed to pitchpole a NACRA 6.0 downwind without spinnaker during Midwinters '98! I also tried to take out the Bob Sykes Bridge with the same boat. I know the 6.0's are tough but that was asking a bit much.....
Maybe I should have said " when you get more experience " rather than " learn to sail properly." That may have gone down a little better. The thing I was trying to get across though without sounding one way or another is that the smoother you are on the tiller the better. The more knowledge you have sailing in the particular conditions the better. That's why some of these guys with tons of time on the water don't get too involved in these conversations. They have already been through all this stuff when they went from say Hobie 16's to NACRA 6.0's with spinnaker(or whatever the order was back in the day). I think I saw a NACRA 5.5 with jib and spin also during RTI 1995. I was watching as they finished that race from a bar in Ft. Walton beach as they passed around 5:30 - 6:00 pm. It was awesome. Close by the spin group was a Hobie 20 sloop, no spin. Talk about experience.
