Thanks Chuck & Lindsay for the explanation. I guess it`s hard getting guys together from different regions when you have such active sailing scenes in your own backyard. For that you are fortunate.
And Lindsay, I take my hat off to you - I don`t know too many female skippers who will go out solo in wind that blows boats away, even if they`re light. Not using the spinnaker was a choice based on survival ?
Interesting point to note is that the spinnaker actually helps prevent pitch-poling downwind when it gets hairy - (although I must confess I haven`t tried it in steep swell yet.) Getting it up, down & gybing it is the scary bit on your own. My boat has less bouyancy in the bows than the Taipan, so if it lifts the bows on my boat it should do the same for you. Perhaps one reason I can sail with kite up in more wind is that my mast is only 7,3m !

Find out where the limits are, and start from there.

Cheers
Steve