I have found you cannot sail these boats without continual adjustment of both the downhaul and rotation upwind.
Ken,
Kudos for the Alter cup qualifying.
Can you clarify something for me? When you say "continual adjustment", do you mean you play the downhaul/rotator in puffs/lulls (going upwind) OR is it more a few times a leg adjustment?
My background is 2-up racing and the crew played the downhaul in puffs and heavy wave action (very much like Gina_M described). I've been racing 1-up lately and cannot figure out a way to do this (tiller and mainsheet/traveller is about the best I can do). I do adjust the downhaul on upwind legs, but not specific to puffs and lulls - only generally when I feel over or under powered.
Make sense?
And for the record, I cleat my main <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />