I'll start with the tack. I'm no pro and there are probably faster ways to go about the tack - but if the crew is running the mainsheet and I'm driving, as we enter a point where we think we may tack, the crew will hand me the sheet and I control it at that point until we tack. Sometimes this could be for some time if we are in a tactical position where we may have to tack suddenly (if I'm on the hip of a right away boat but just far enough away that he would have rights to tack, for instance). When I call for the tack, I usually cleat the mainsheet and toss it inboard safely on the trampoline (warning; this in "unprofessional" but it doesn't burn up too much time. It can, however, leave you in a tricky spot if you decide not to tack at that point and now nobody has the mainsheet ;-). I wait for the crew to bend their knees and just barely get their butt on the hull before I start my turn. I start my turn as I come off the wire and I focus hard on not "wiggling" or "bouncing" the rudders through the entire manuever (slows the boat!). I immediately zero in on the mainsheet near the cleat and retake control of it there. I ease about a 8 to 12 inches of mainsheet (depending on conditions - sometimes I ease more in light conditions). I rotate on my feet and a knee at the center of the trampoline facing rearward at the mainsheet blocks as I flip the tiller to the other side. I regrab the mainsheet at the cleat. At this point, the crew should be rehooking to his trapeze line as I move to the outboard end of the new hull bringing the mainsheet with me and bringing it in. With my tail planted on the hull briefly, I give the main another good pull and hold the sheet over my shoulder while I start to zero in on a good heading. The crew grabs the mainsheet ready to pull it again to send it the rest of the way home as I push back out on the wire with them. The crew has some flexibility with the timing of bringing the mainsheet in and can make up for some of my errors...he/she needs to be considerate that I may still be hooking into my trap and doesn't need to play godzilla on the mainsheet until I at least have a footing and am starting to push out on the wire.


Jake Kohl