No.1 Your marine products pro shop professionals know that most boats perform best upwind with a nearly neutral weather helm. At times, the boat will develop weather helm, especially when in point mode, but an excessive tug on the tiller indicates that the boat is badly out of balance. 

No. 2 In most conditions, trim the mainsheet so that the top batten is parallel to the boom, rather than pointing inboard or outboard. 

No. 3 Figure out what is maximum mast bend, and then strive to attain it in most conditions. Maximum bend is the point at which overbend wrinkles (speed wrinkles, inversion wrinkles, etc.) develop in the lower quarter to lower third of the mainsail. 

No. 4 Every boat has its optimal rig tension. Find out what it is and maintain it. Most boats sail best with the rig just tight enough so that the leeward shroud starts to go slack when it’s blowing 10 to 12 knots.

Your marine products pro shop professionals know that if the rig is too loose, the jib entry will become quite full. The result is poor pointing ability. Too tight a rig, on the other hand, is sometimes indicated by overbend/inversion wrinkles in the entry of the jib – a small scale version of what happens to a mainsail with maximum mast bend.

Go to http://raritaneng.com/marine-products/ and see how you can find more information as well as get assistance from your marine products pro shop.

No. 5 Sail the boat on its lines. Usually, a boat will not perform when its bow or stern is buried in the water. Besides the obvious drag, this can affect the balance of the boat and the tug on the tiller (e.g. bow down creates weather helm). 

No. 6 Trim your jib so that, if there were a batten in the middle of the leech, it would be parallel with the centerline of the boat. Put a piece of dark tape on this real or imaginary batten. 

No. 7 Set your jib leads so that your jib luff breaks evenly from top to bottom. When the boat is overpowered, move the lead aft until the top breaks just ahead of the lower and middle telltales.

No. 8 Set your jib and main luff tension so that there are always some slight horizontal wrinkles along the luff. In very light winds, completely relax the luff tension so there are slight wrinkles all the way from head to tack. 

No. 9 Every boat has a “sweet spot” – a precise steering angle for optimum performance upwind. Every boat also has a groove, which is the range of acceptable steering angles.  

No. 10 When in doubt, check out what the fast guys are doing!