Yeah but do the Skiffs do it solo?

Most have 1 or 2 crew, right? And even they end up swimming quite a bit in a gybe gone bad.

I used to be a believer in trapping out, but I've watched Matt and Gina sail away from me downwind, going lower at the same speed, on the tramp, way too many times.

The way I look at it is this; The object of the game is to get from A to C as quickly as possible. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

If you can go lower, nearly as fast as someone who is trapping higher, you are sailing a shorter course to C mark. If you can also avoid swimming, you are going to pass the ones who didn't.