Good morning Karl!

Very good question and one that has been bounced around here for some time. Here's my take on the subject.

1. Course racing; upwind-downwind. The best way to get to C mark is staying in on the tramp and to keep the hull flying. We did a test of this back in 2003 at key Sailing with a course laid out in the sound. One boat trapped and the other did not. At the time the school of thought was to trap. Winds were about 6-12 for the test. The boat that sailed non-trapped won every time by a lot; minutes. Like you have already said, if you overstand then trapping is the solution. Trapping makes for very wide angles and non-trapping makes for a much smaller "box"(inside laylines). Best way to know what your boat can do is to set up a small course and get out there and gybe away to your hearts content! Take your knew found knowledge to a race and see what happens!!

For me, sitting on the hull is much faster in the gybes. It also allows me to make a better call on the laylines and keep me inside the box.

Hope this helps,
Bob wink

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