That was a good post from RichH #6
Also, he wrote about the style of sailing which was good:
The problem in light wind racing is low apparent wind ... and those who successfully race in light venues are the one who 'foot off' going upwind or 'head up' going downwind to keep the apparent wind at a maximum (vs. VMG).
Tactics, in my opinion, is the one area that can really help and it doesn't cost anything. A lot of races are won or lost in only seconds for the entire race. I had one that was around six hours long and came in fourth place which was 32 seconds out of first place on corrected time and I'll never forget it. 32 seconds - I can tell you about all the "what ifs" "could haves", etc., but that's what the end result was.
The next most beneficial item is telltails. Good ones. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Learn how to read them and then trim accordingly.
If you're really into a lot of light air racing, one thing to consider is a going with a masthead rig. This would cost some seconds per mile but might be worth it. Look at Alan's H35.5 and see what he did with his rig and he's been winning some races.
Alan installed a jumper stay or jackstay on his rig in order to fly a masthead chute or masthead drifter and you could do the same thing. One has to be careful about the loading that gets put on the rig but Alan, I believe, is a Mechanical Engineer and would understand these things. It isn't rocket science but it does take a feel for the loads, like the amount and direction, that would be applied.
Light air racing is a challenge.
Another thought: does the boat have a feathering/folding prop? If not, a low-drag prop would be the absolutely Number 1 thing to get, hands down, before anything else.