Thanks Jake and Darryl.

Jake, many of your comments were directed spi with crew. I'm particularly interested in the best singlehanded spi hoisting techniqe for higher winds. I should have titled the post "Singlehanded spi launching in higher winds".

So if you're solo, how do you do things differently?

I had assumed that sailing lower before hoisting was beneficial for two reasons: 1) it allows you to center the traveller and sheet in the main in advance of the hoist to protect the mast, and 2) when you do sheet in the spi you would get less power from it initially on a lower course which would reduce the initial "wind shock" to some degree until you can "catch up" in speed to the wind speed. I would think that in bearing off you don't want to slow down, just have a less powerful spi when initially launched. So maybe it would work well to bear off and launch the spi quickly before you slow down too much and then head up again?

I do see the potential benefit of blanketing the spi with the main but wonder if you're jeopardizing the mast if you were to hoist/sheet the spi in high winds with it too far off center?

Jerry