See this video of guys who keep the spi up in strong wind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i128Pk8vFbE If I see it right they let the spi totally go when the boat comes up, and the helmsman sets the traveler way out together with the S turn. As I'm not that experienced in strong wind combind with a spi, I was wondering if this is the way to do this?
There was no strong wind in that video (15kts tops), the 30kt winds started about 20mins after the video ends on that upwind leg.
IMO the helmsman is a bit late when bearing away sometimes (amongst other things), and releases the traveler because of this.
At 6:52 they passed the lighthouse and really should have been double trapping since the next gate was at quite a high angle.
(We went swimming when double trapped on that leg though, bummer since we where the first F18 at that point).
Arjan, you should attend some races sometimes.
The more sailors the better
