First of all, my new boat gave me my first of what is sure to be many humbling experiences. The T4.9 has so much more power than my old N5.5, it's scary. Anyway, on to the question and discussion.
The conditions on the lake this weekend were gusty 5-15mph. So in the lulls, I wanted the sail totally powered and was on the hull and in the gusts, well, let's just say I got wet.
First off, I'll say that I'm not very efficient at getting out on the wire quickly and will be working on that.
I tried the typical things to depower rig, but in the lulls it sucked. So I went back to dumping mainsheet to keep it on it's feet.
I'm assuming that in stable winds, the order of action would be trap out, downhaul, rotation, traveler, sheet. I've read that you can play the downhaul in the gusts, but during my attempt, it didn't get it done (wet). My next attempt was to play the rotation control. It seems to have a lot more effect on the overall rig power and has a lot lighter line load than the downhaul. With this method, I managed not to get wet.
So here's my plan for gusty conditions. I'd love your comments or suggestions how to modify.
-Set downhaul for lulls to keep power potential when needed.
-Trap out, crouch near hulls during lulls if necessary.
-Hold mainsheet in hand with tiller extension...so you can dump in needed.
-Play rotation control to keep boat on it's feet.
What do you guys think? What would you do differently?
Jeff
