Gary, here`s a thought : Were you having the same problem on the Mozzie, or did you just not try trapezing with kite up ?
The reason I ask is that I agree with you, wiring off the back single-handed with kite up is a bit like living on the ragged edge. You go hell of a fast, until you stop.
Having said that, I haven`t found the same issue on the Mozzie that you describe, that the bow pushes under and, despite a bearaway, still goes down.
Here`s my theory, I`d love to hear what others think since this is esentially about hull shape :
When the Mozzie is going downwind I get the weather hull up so that the bottom of the daggerboard is clear of the water. At this level of incline the forward part of the hull (in fact the whole hull) changes the way it goes through water, since it`s over at quite an angle. the Moz has classic Tornado hull shape (for those who don`t know), what I experience is at this angle of heel the bow actually starts to produce lift, and a big bearaway increases this lift such that the bow "pops" back out again. I think you might not be having this happen on Altered becuase the bows have flatter sides than the Moz, which might mean that she produces less lift when heeled over. If I`m right about this theory then the new hull shapes like Blade etc will also not experience this "lift", but perhaps will get away with it with more bouyancy up front than Altered. If my theory is wrong, well then it is
. (Of course it could also have something to do with the fact that your mast is up in the clouds compared to the Moz.) This is one reason I think canted hulls are not a great idea for downwind - I`d lose that component of lift that I rely on to save my butt from time to time.
Any thoughts on this ? (Please, no heavy Engineering, it`s almost Easter weekend and my mind is close to shut-down.)
Steve