Bern, don't give up buddy. Sounds like an extraordinary string of bad luck, but you've got something particularly original on your hands. It's not like you can drive down to the dealership and pick up advice and parts. Have a drink, watch some TV or something - don't worry about the boat for a couple of days and let the whole thing percolate a bit in the back of your mind. In a few days, I'll bet that some solutions come swimming up out of your subconscious.

On the downwind stuff... definitely the sets and douses need to be as quick as you can manage. It took me quite a while to get the choreography down on the M4.3, and that was with a simple end-pole, single line snuffer. Once I got the steps between driving and working the front end, they came faster and more naturally in short order. I usually drove very deep when rounding the top mark and letting go of the tiller to set the kite. I'd have the main travelled down quite a distance. A good rudder-tune/mast rake combo will keep you tracking straight while you wrestle the bedsheet.

Once the kite is up, you'll need to travel up nearly all the way (depending upon conditions) and sail that kite at a really high angle initially. Get her moving as soon as you can - screw worrying about depth on the course until you've got some speed up and the apparent wind starts moving forward. I spent FAR too much time when learning to sail the 4.3 looking at my angle against non-spin boats (usually H16s in mixed fleets). I found once I ignored everyone around me until I got the boat moving, my VMG would skyrocket. More distance sailed, but I got quickly around any 16s that might have beat me to the turn mark.

BTW - the RC made an error by signalling "M" at the A-mark if it was B-mark that was missing. "M" should be signaled AT THE INTENDED LOCATION of the missing mark, and the RC boat is rounded as though it were the mark. I'd have been confused, too, the way you describe it. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hope to hear more about your project soon. I've really enjoyed reading about it! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />