I guess I'm wondering if I am better served by bearing off. In the past, I've always just sheeted in as far as I could and pointed as high as the conditions would allow. The boat always felt constrained and held back; it seemed that by altering course slightly, the resulting speed would vastly offset the extra distance travelled. When I practice, I've tried to determine if heading down just a few degrees is best, but I'm looking for additional input. I assume, given your name that you sail 16s. Do you just sheet in as much as possible, then S course? Or is there some other technique that I don't know about?