Well, of course, no boat likes steep, short-interval waves when going to weather, so that is not really specific to the Wave. We just handle it by bearing off a little more, moving back to get the bows up, and going faster. I DO think it is more of a problem when the wind is relatively light in relation to wave action.

And when sailing in waves, you have to carefully time your tacks so that the boat is turning on the top of a wave and the next wave will help knock the bows over onto the new tack. It's kind of a fun thing to practice.

As with all boats, you have to develop different techniques to handle different conditions.

We don't have much experience with the jib. For our first Wave we also got the optional jib kit and spinnaker kit and trapeze kit from Hobie Cat Company, because it makes a great training boat -- all the components to teach, in microcosm, all the basic elements of sailing a bigger, more high-tech beach cat. For teaching, it can carry two adults and the instructor. And for beginner sailors, it is not as intimidating as, for instance, a Hobie 18 would be in 15-knot winds.

Our experience with the factory-option jib was that it didn't work very well because there was no way to keep the luff tight. Hobie Cat Company said they only originally offered the jib to give other people on the boat something to do, but they were surprised to find that it actually increased the boat's speed by 10 percent. We didn't use it enough to be able to confirm that.

I don't think we have tried reaching with that jib in heavy air, so I don't know how much of a "disaster" it would be. As you suggested, I can picture people trapezing off the aft corner of the boat.

I do know that racers all rake their masts back as far as possible. And on a heavy-air reach, you have to hike out as far back on the boat as you can get (aft of the tiller crossbar) to keep the bows up -- sort of like sailing a skiff.

What I like about the Wave is that it extends the sailable wind range, and sailing time on the water. The way I figure it, all boats are slow and boring in very light air. And all boats at least "feel" fast and fun in moderate air. But many boats don't leave the beach in wind above 15 knots.