I have learned a lot about keeping the boat down in higher winds from everyone here. I am still having some issues.

Recently when sailing and the wind got a little sporty, I looked up to see if my leech was opening. It was still very closed. I had pretty good downhaul on and was sheeted in. Maybe its not supposed to open up under such a tuning setup. Any comments...

It should open up...

Sometimes, it will look like it's not open, but it is. Let's say that it wasn't though, what about your rotation? Where was that? How windy was it?

Mike

It is often more easier to judge if the top is open or not from a chase boat.

If it is not open:
Was the rotation in/out? On a wing mast it is quite sensitive. Too much rotation will not open the top and flat the lower part of the sail (which can be fast sailing in flat water and fair winds.
Are the top battens too soft? This is fairly difficult to judge.
Are the top battens too tight tensioned? Try to knot it just in place without any tension for strong wind and see what it does for the sail shape.
Are you having enough downhaul? Tight downhaul means really tight downhaul. Sheet in after you tighten the downhaul and then tighten it again.
Was you sheet too tight?

What was the course and wind strength? Any chop? It is not always fast to open the top in strong winds. If the water is fairly flat, you will point higher or have a better vmg if the sail is flat in the lower part. You have less acceleration but a better top speed, because the boat is less dragy.

Cheers,

Klaus

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lCkPjiew1o/TcCESQbQFuI/AAAAAAAAHNk/VQMGSkyI93E/s1600/AClassPeyron124.jpg
I think this sail looks pretty good. If you look at the curve in the battens you can see he has it flat at the top but still full at the bottom. As you depower, watch the top battens. You want to see the top flatten. I would start with the rotation at the side stay. The top should flatten pretty quickly as downhaul and main are tightened because the mast is bendy on the narrow axis/unsupported at the top. Then bring the rotation back. When you see the top of the sail start to get fuller you have rotated too far back. The top of the mast is straightening out because it is stiff on the wide axis. You would like the sail to be flat and rotate back a lot but our mast does not support this.