". . .gybe through a smaller arc," If you end the gybe dead down wind, with the main sheeted in and the travel centered, it's almost like being head to wind.

Agreed.... A must.

Week-end is over <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />. We had fantastic weather. Sunshine, blue sky and on-shore winds. Bit cold for the more sensitive fellows. But the wind was not that strong as predicted. Saturday was 4-5Bft with gusts in 6, but we took the T. When I took the Javelin on Sunday it was something like 12kts and some gusts reported to be 18kts with some old swell. That is a bit 'disappointing' if you expect something close to 20. For sure it is better to start sailing a new boat this way, but I was mentally adjusted to danger.
I had the impression that the boat could handle even more wind. Downwind the boat is a blast (well it felt like that, not much out there to compare those days) with and without the hooter. It indicates nose-diving early, and I actually never stuffed it that day. Due to the high mast and the short hulls, I expected some bad behaviour in waves, but it didn't (as long as you keep longitudinal trim). Only problem was, that all the sheets are to long, the trampoline looked then chaotic and I was trailing some of them most of time.
Hope you had great sailing as well.

Cheers,

Klaus

You're right. At the time of the photos the conditions were at about 12 knots. That's why I wrote, "Photo attached from before the wind got extreme." Later on in the day conditions got much more brisk with whitecaps and wind chop on top of the sea swell--all the typical things you'd expect for "sea state." The windward mark for the races was a sea buoy out in the middle of Monterey Bay with a wind meter, and gusts of 30+ knots were recorded. It was not fun, but my point was that the boat can deal with it. The racing was curtailed and we came in.