Pete,

if you lack upwind speed/VMG, listen to your friends. If not..
They are in a better position to study your leech than you are. If you dont sheet hard enough, you dont have the pedal floored, and if you are racing, you want .
If you are in doubt wether you have enough sheet on, look at the telltales. Are they streaming? What happens if you sheet the main a bit harder, still streaming? Sheet in until they stall, then let out until they stream again. Have your crew on the main and let him work the sheet to the above rule all the time while you focus on the water and helming the boat fast. You probably need more sheet tension than you think, but your telltales will help you, if you look at them that is. I dont like to have too many telltales on the sail/rig. That is just confusing in my experience, and you end up using just a couple of them anyway. Your main probably came with all the telltales you need.

If you have too much or not enough donwhaul on, the boat will be slower than it could be. The only way to tell is to look at the boats around you and spend time in the boat so you get the feel for it. If there are other boats with similar sails/masts and crew weights around, ask about their settings after the race. In 15 knots you probably want the downhaul on quite firmly for best speed.


I would listen to mye friends when telling me that I was not sheeting hard enough for the conditions.