Tony,

On my homebeach (Petten) where I'm used to sail, there is almost all the time a steep break to pass. Even with side shore or cross offshore wind. That and the fact of the presence of breakwaters ("wave-breakers") with a distance of 50 till 80 meters in between, makes the passing (though tricky) every days work.

What I see on the pictures is that the steering man is staying at the back and his mate somewhere in the middle. So I would say it was a matter of wrong weight distribution.

Especially with a windforce which is to less for the wave height. This disbalance in circumstance requires simple a different approach of passing technique.

Let me explain mine:

In the passing I'm always sitting upfront of the tramp right next (but after) to the side shroud on the high side.
One hand grabbing the shroud and one hand steering with the joystick. In this position I can even manage a short 90 degrees cat uplift and being pushed and sailing backwards!

My special net tramp and my special rudder control, which give me possibility to pull my rudders down from a postion near the mast, are ofcourse helping me in this technique.

And I always sail single-handed. But even in the rare cases that I take someone with me, she or he is positioned in front of the side shrouds near the front beam.

groetjes
ronald reeder