I was told by a knowledgable source that trapping down wind (Uni)wasn't really necessary except on rare occassions. The beleif being that if you need to trap you would be sailing too high.
Pete, I do not know if you are refering to some of the comments I have made, but if so let me try and clarify that statement.
Generically attempting to trap down wind is the same as saying you have to fly the hull. Both of these techniques are about weight placement. You want to stear to maintain apparent/pressure. If your hull is flying and you have to turn down excessively low to keep things in control then your weight placement and or sail trim is wrong. Weight placemnet can include trapping. Sailing uni this will happen sooner than with 2-up. IF one has the boat handling skills this can be very fast. The problem with it is that moving in and out is still difficult and once out you will then sail to try and stay out. If the wind is not steady this may mean you sail a lot higher than required in the lulls just because you have your weight already committed.
With 2 up in the light we may both be down on the low side as far forward as we can get. I have also found I can keep forward apparent with 2 up on the tramp up to 20 + depending on the sea state. More than that and we should trap as it would be faster, but Gina will not consider it at all, and as we are not practiced, any gains would likely be a wash from poor handling in the transion for me anyway. Tactically I can be better on the tramp in the bigger wind jibbing on the wind lines and protecting my position. It is also a very narrow iwndow with 2 up when it is appropriate anyway as it has to be enough to be beneficail but with just a little more than that people start flipping and managing the race by attrition becomes beneficial.
