A foot of traveler should get you enough ruddr time to turn down.
Thanks, so dropping the traveller 1-2 ft doesn't take away too much support from the top of the mast that there's a risk of damaging anything?
You need to get your crew sheeting the spin much more... this sounds like the northerly we get at Port Melbourne. Crewing in these conditions I'm constantly sheeting a good 3-4 foot of sheet.
I'll certainly try to get my crew to trim the sheet a bit more. Is this a situation where having the spin out of trim is leading to more heeling force on the boat?
