Maybe I'm lazy or just have my rudders set wrong, but I only have slight windward helm upwind, and almost neutral off the wind.
IMHO that is exactly what you want. Mine is more or less neutral but that is probably because I try to stear the boat a lot with balance and sail trim too. If there is a lot of helm one way or another something is usually wrong.
In light winds, I have left the tiller unattended for up to a minute and it tracked straight. Only when big changes in sail trim were made did it turn the boat.
I also stick it under my leg in big air when yanking on downhaul or helping set the spin.
Having been washed off (or fallen off) more times than I'd like to admit (trap line breaks, wave washes crew off, etc.), I'll side with the previous poster that I try to maintain a deathgrip on the mainsheet or some other part of the boat. These things move too fast to become detached for any length of time. Just by hanging on and dragging in the water should eventually make the boat round up or flip over.
Hehehe it's kinda like falling off a motor bike. The more you slide off the back, the faster you make it go
Tiger Mike
