very nice description! would it be correct to infer that too much rake can also slow down your boat in lighter breezes? at the regatta the first day had breezes in the steady 10-15 knot range. next day not so much. still it didn't seem that anyone really changed any configurations much from the two days. racing ofcourse became much slower the second day. it could be that i wasn't as observant as i could have been to notice the changes that might have been made. still i did notice considerable backward rake on the second day. wish i could have been out on the water observing instead of stuck on the shore a mile from the course.