I would like to also comment on weather helm. Rig Tuning, Sail Trim and apparent wind angle all work into being able to sail the boat. My wife and I sail the boat all the time and we struggled with weather healm when we first bought the boat. First thing I did was tune the rig tight like a piano (using the tuning guide). I then worked with my sailmaker and went over my sails and we made some mods to the luff curve, batten lengths and reef points (I inherited the sails from the previous owner). But most important he worked with me and my wife on sail trim and sail plan balancing based on *my sails*. What we have found is that balancing the sails and pinching the boat is *very fast* and comfortable when the wind picks up. This boat will eat up the wind for a 30 footer. So much so that often the only issue with the tiller is getting my wife to let me drive because she is having so much fun.
Now my wife and I have only been sailing larger boats for about 5 years so some of this extra work my have been due to our inexperience so you may already have worked through this or it may seem perocial. But needless to say some of the best sailing we have had has been in winds of 18k to 25k on Buzzards bay and we have no problem hanging with the 40 footers with my wife driving (-:
David
