Popeye,
The boat will drift very fast in strong wind.
The drag shoot acts like a sea anchor to hold the bow of the boat into the wind. You could make it from some spinnaker cloth.
Easing the downhaul allows the sail to drop its built in shape. Apart from helping shed the water a little bit easier, when the boat stands up it is much better behaved and less likely to try to sail off while you are trying to climb aboard.
The same applies sitting in strong wind waiting for a start when you ease the downhaul the boat will settle down and behave itself (stops the main flogging back and forth)while you wait.

Regards,
Phill

I know that the voices in my head aint real,
but they have some pretty good ideas.
There is no such thing as a quick fix and I've never had free lunch!