Another problem is bearing away after the hull rises, the angle of the rudder at that point becomes a down plane, and drives the bow down. Your trimmer needs to call the puffs so you can turn down at the beginning of the puff, not after its already on you.
Yeah, I figured that was a large part of the reason that the rudders become ineffective once the boat is heeled over. They are largely generating lift on the stern once the boat is inclined to 45 degrees.
Calling the puffs upwind is pretty easy, but downwind I find it somewhat more challenging. I'm definitely working on getting better at it, but I'm happy to use the traveller to cut down the amount of swimming I have to do while I learn.
When the traveller is dropped, I'm letting more air spill off the leech of the mainsail, reducing heeling motion, right? In addition to this, since the main isn't generating as much force on the boat any more, am I also moving the center of effort for the boat forward? Would this result in more lee helm, and help the boat bear off?
