My outhaul is as tight as I can pull it by hand. My sails are brand new and it seems like the outhaul can be either tight or loose insofar that there is not really any spring/give in that line. ie. when I pull on the outhaul more it does not give at all, and if I let it out an inch it appears quite loose.

As for the mast rake and sheeting, I am sure I could use some experienced advice here. I think I went from too little rake - where the boat was easy to steer, had a tendency to bury a hull and seemed to be sluggish to accelerate - all the way to the other extreme. However, when I raked too far back, the boat was not only VERY hard to steer but also seemed slow to accelerate. Unfortunately, I have no one to help me out by checking out my boat. I have read through 2 books and Ricks videos, all of which helped me out a great deal and had me flying my hulls and completing my tacks within 10 minutes of sailing the boat for the first time. But, the books and videos cannot really convey hands-on experience or (more importantly) give me comparative differences regarding the setup of my particular boat.

Dave