"DSK" wrote in message
...

:
: A lot of people simply cleat the mainsheet &
ride along, and only ease
: when the boat is overpowered to the point of
losing steering; that's
: more what I meant.
:
: If the boat is balanced & sailing well,
close-hauled, and you get a gust
: an don't move the tiller... the boat will heel
over, the balance will
: shift, and the boat will head up on it's own.
Then if the gust dies, it
: loses heel and the balnace shifts the opposite
way... should bear away
: back to the course it was on previously. This is
not *the* fastest way
: to sail, but it's faster than many helmsman can
get the boat to windward.
:

The kids all complain when we take their rudders
off, but at the end of the day, the ones who could
sail the course without a rudder are the one who
win.
: