RS200 sailing

Having the main cleated and pinching sounds like possibly the worst thing ive heard!
If you dont mind playing around with your mast then it could possibly be worth angling your spreaders further back as to put more bend in your mast which should help flatten out your sail.  I dont really know Rs200 specifics but my general rule of thumb for being overpowered has been grab the downhaul and just KEEP CRANKING it on!!  Play the main as much as you need to to deal with the wind and try to get the crew to play the jib in sync with the main.  As for how much kicker you should use, i'l let a 200 sailor answer that one. 

Doug

Together my crew and I weigh approximately 110kgs.

With regards to the kicker - if i crank it on when we're overpowered it'll obviously flatten the main but also bring the leech into play, how do these two factors weigh up?

hmmmmmm. When i have crewed a 200 the helm tended to crank in the main and cleat it, we slipped sideways a LOT and it wasnt fast at all! I would reccomend playing the main as much as your arms will manage, crank on the kicker to flatten the main and reduce sheet loads.

Bear in mind if you don't have the kicker on when you let the main out the mast will strighten and you will power up before you depower, hence having the kicker on so that when you let the main out the boom doesn't rise as the mainsheet tension comes off.

On a boat without lowers or effective deck control, pulling on the kicker will bend the mast and flatten the sail low down. So far so good, if you're overpowered. A side-effect that worries you, Holly, is that it will also tighten the leach - that's when you need to pull on the Cunningham which then causes the top of the main to blade off again, i.e. reintroduces the twist in the main. So you end up with a flatter sail that's still nicely twisted. Such a sail can then be sheeted out further before it will flap or the slot starts to choke up/backwinding occurs, i.e. you can sail with decreased incidence on the main effectively reducing the side-force.

Another consequence of such flattening, however, is that the main has lost force relative to the jib so that the centre of effort of the rig will move forward affecting the helm balance. It's for this reason you need to rake the mast aft when you flatten the main.

In answer to your original question, Holly, to stuff the boat up with the helm or to play the main: I can't imagine a 200 is going to plane to windward under normal circumstances, so there's no point in sailing too free. I'd have thought that a judicious combination of easing the main and heading up would bring the best results in the gusts, but it would be nice to hear from a top 200 sailor on that one.