Part 2 was getting a little long and I had something else I wanted to add. I conduct a 4 hour "On The water" seminar where a crew of 5 or 6 sailors go through every crew position on the boat for every point of sail and getting out of irons is an important aspect of the class. Once the students get the boat moving at full speed, with the sails set as perfectly as possable, I have them stop the boat and I put it in irons. I then mess up all the controls while they change positions and they have to get the boat moving again and up to top speed. It is fairly easy from closehauled but try going from irons to downwind and see how easy it isn't for beginners at first but it is amazing how quickly they master the technique. In the 3rd hour they can do it in their sleep!! Figuring out how to get out of irons should be in your bag of tricks because sooner or later it will happen to you and you should know what to do automatically without thinking about it.