That's the "other thing", you have to get the spinnaker up and drawing, get the mainsail set right, let go the mainsheet and keep the spinny trimmed right, heat it up and then, when the hull starts to lift, you drop your butt over the side and get out on the wire as the hull is lifting, and you are trimming the spinny with one hand, and steering with the other. Once you get out there and under control, it's a great ride, no doubt. I get my butt to the back and get my foot in the footstrap as soon as possible, then work the boat up and down to keep the hull up about 2-3 feet out of the water.

Now, think about this. You have now put the entire weight of the boat, (240lbs. + or -) plus your body weight, plus the drive power of the main and spinny, all on the one hull. Think about it. Got the picture?

OK, Along comes a mighty puff and what are you going to do? You are going to bear off of course, putting even more downward pressure on that one little, low, bow. Where do you think that bow is going to go? To China, that's where! And you will be flying around the forestay, foot strap or no.

Now, let's say you are good, and you saved it. But now you are approaching the layline and it's time for a jibe. Think it through. Here's what usually happens to me; As I come in off the wire, I have to bear off a bit of course, put the high hull back in the water, ease the spinny sheet a little as you are now running deeper, pull on the tiller a little (which is hard to get just right while you are moving in off the wire) And get my fat butt back up on the tramp with no hands, as one is sheeting, one is steering. The truth is, I usually grab the trap handle with the sheet hand and let the spinny flog if it comes to that. Anyway, now you are on the tramp, unhook, finish the steer-down for the gybe, duck, jump to the other side, drop the spinn sheet, throw the tiller over, pick it up, grab the spinn. sheet on the new side, get it trimmed in, sit back, hook up the trap, sheet in, lift hull, jump out on the wire agian. Yeah, right.

The potential to F-this up is great, and swimming is slow. I would only consider doing this if I were at the back of the fleet with nothing to lose by crashing, and I thought it would make me catch up to someone in front.

Now, that being said, if you want to be "Great", you should practice this often, to the point where you can do it all in one fluid motion, and you -might- be faster for it. If you don't crash. I did it on one local fleet race at GYC a few months back and watched the entire fleet, most of whom were behind me at A mark, sail by, as I righted my boat...

The moral of the story, don't do it if it's not necessary to stay in front. In my case, it was not necessary, but I did it anyway, because I thought it would be faster. And I lost about 10 places for my efforts.

The boat gybed as I was coming in off the wire (poor steering on my part) and I had not yet jumped to the new side. Of course the main was cleted and my hands were full of trap handle and tiller, so I couldn't let it go, and over I went.

Turns out, swimming is not as fast as sitting on the tramp downwind. The "fastest" way downwind for me, is as I described above, and I usually throw the tiller over the back, Aussie Style, and steer with the rudder arm only, as I am sitting on the aft beam, one hull up and charging downwind. To gybe, all you need do is get to the other side and trim in the spinn. No muss, no fuss, and no swimming.