It is "normal" for boats without boards to have a harder time tacking (than boats with boards) in certain wind and sea conditions. Steep, close-together chop can be a problem for tacking even in lighter air. I would offer some more suggestions, but you said you don't want a treatise on HOW to do it.

If the wind is really strong, though, it can be scarier to jibe. If you really need to get onto the other tack because you are heading for a large, hard, inanimate object (like the northern coast of Maine), there is a technique called the Dime Tack described in the Hobie U. manual.