i am new to cat sailing offshore. i have a 33ft woody brown design with 12ft beam open cargo net fwd.vessel sails well with new main and new asymetric spinnaker.jib is self tacking engine is 9.9 honda 4 stroke mounted on stern.
when i am sailing on north coast of big island wind increases very quickly as channel between big island and maui creates funnel effect seas also become steep and large. reefing has become difficult in these conditions and have had to run downwind on two occasions as result. with increase in wind i am uneasy with bringing vessel into wind as force on main feels like it could flip vessel.engine is useless as waves will keep prop from staying in water.also lower spreaders are swept back, when main is eased it will not spill wind enough to luff fwd edge.i am always singlehanded and auto pilot is unreliable when vessel is overcanvassed in this manner.have thought of setting up downhaul lines through reef cringles to force main down while vessel is in quasi hove to position as of now have not tried this approach any info appreciated.
john

What is the nature of the sail attachment to the mast at the luff? A simple bolt-rope configuration or track slugs will have a lot of drag, if you don't have a track and car (looks like a traveler up the mast, saill attaches to ball bearing cars) system you might want to upgrade, especially if you have full battens. Reefing lines to help pull the sail down and secure the new tack and clew of the sail would be advisable, single line reefing systems are sold by most of the major hardware companies (Harken, etc.).