I was hoping it might work better on the water, but figured that would be wishful thinking!

There is no pigtail and I don't know how to rig one. I feel like the wad is what's causing the trouble so maybe that would help?

I'm not used to using a separate tack so that could be some of the problem maybe? Launching I pull the tack all the way out, then raise the sail. When I snuffed I started pulling the sail in and then cut the tack loose when the sail started going in the snuffer.