Speaking of . . . as skipper, I have always sailed with main in one hand and tiller in the other. Although I'd read of and seen those who hand the main to their crew, I'd never tried it. Well, after putting new carbo ratchamatics on my 6.0 this spring, I'd set the cleat angle too high for me to use while sheeted in hard. The first sail with the new blocks was just under 25 miles with just two tacks. On the final 6-mile reach, my arms were getting a bit tired and the winds had kicked up to 15 or so. Reluctantly, I handed the main over to my crew. As it turns out, it was great! The windward hull did not touch down once on the close reach and I was really able to keep my head out of the boat and drive. My crew played the main expertly. At one point I had to travel down a tad (and, yes, I looked at the cleat to do it), but otherwise I was able to stay fully extended on the wire, with head and eyes toward the water and approaching wind.

Out of curiousity, how many of you give the main to your crew?