Too tight for a sym

I'm coming at things from a Fireball perspective, but a lot of this thread seems to be talking about what to do with the kite itself. I usually sail with fairly big crews, so we will often go for the kite when others don't, but if you set the rest of the boat up properly, it's amazing how high you can go. Board right up, cunno/outhaul on hard, kicker eased a very long way, and flatwiring/hiking really hard, and a nice curl on the kite. It may well be for 50% of the leg the main is not driving very much at all, but in the lulls, or if the leg opens up, the speed difference is big between a boat two or three sail reaching. I'd rather have that power in reserve if required than have that whole "gedditupgedditup" half way down the leg, or even a cheeky Aussie drop to get round the mark if required.

Obviously if it's just too tight though, it will be s-l-o-w, and I guess time in the boat, a quick peek at the burgee for the AWA and a look at how other boats are doing (bearing in mind crew weights) is a very good barometer.

And don't forget at the end of the day it's always better for people to say to you in the bar say "where on earth were you boys going in a hail of spray, flogging sailcloth and expletives at Mach 6 on the the second lap…looked fun" instead of "erm, we rolled you when you were both sat in the boat…"