Assuming you have a narrow channel to sail in, you are going downwind,and one side is favored (one short tack and one long.) is it ok and under what conditions to sail deeper and slower than you might want, so as to not have to jibe lots. Would you power the rig to sail lower? or just bite the bullet and short jibe.
That's a tough call and it's not something you normally do (sail downwind in a narrow channel). The only time I've had to do it is going through the mangrove channels of the Key Largo Steeplechase. I have done both, long deep jibes and normal angles with a lot of short jibes. I felt the long deep jibes worked better. But, keep in mind we were in a mangrove channel where the wind was quite swirley (sp) and we could paddle. If we couldn't paddle then sailing normal angles might have had the edge.
First in foremost in these situations I get to the pressure and get out of an opposing current, it always seems like there is an opposing current.
Again, I only find myself in that situation once a year. Wish I had a more definitive answer.
Dave
