My 35s5 has a very large main and we sailed her in heavy air. YES, she
will round up quite easily in the gusts, but I don't feel it's much
different from my C&C, only less forgiving with the 35s5's performance.
As others have said, you need an experienced hand on the mainsail trim
and in flukey air it has to be adjusted almost as much as the helm
inputs. Cruising is another matter, just spill her off for the middle
wind range and we won't even carry a jib in that kind of air much of
the time. The boat does quite well under her main alone. When a heavy
gust comes in NO amount of helm input with keep her nose down. You MUST
ease the main quickly and trim back to maintain boat speed.
Sailing our 35s5 (pics coming soon) is simply amazing compared to what
we've owned before. The boat is alive, even in light air and we pass
just about everything!


RB
35s5
NY