Ken from Va: Yup, you've just joined the club when you discovered the trim was off. That is a big first step that will put you in the top 25% of sailors worldwide who have knowledge of what they are doing. Pretty soon you be able to recognize - and know the corrective action to take - to fix the everyday situations you see on your boat and with fellow sailors you meet on the water. Shortly, you won't need the Chart any more. Why is a sequence important? You've just found out why when you noticed you were working against yourself. Also, this sequence applies to either a mast head or fractional rig. Here's the sequence: 1) Get the boat going as best you can closehauled. 2) Adjust the jib halyard. In light air - you want to ease it slightly. That moves the draft position aft. Draft aft is more powerful than draft forward. In heavy air - you want to tighten the halyard. This moves the draft position forward, which is more forgiving. In my case I don't mess with the halyard. I have a jib cunningham instead, which is easier to deal with. 3) Now we want to adjust the fairleads. Head the boat almost head to wind and watch the luff. Actually, watch the whole sail. If the foot flutters, the bottom of the sail starts to luff or the bottom telltales break then you should move the fairlead AFT. If the leech flutters, the top luffs or the top telltales break then move the fairlead FORWARD. How far? I don't know because it varies. Experiment and move the fairlead one hole at a time. Just repeat the process until you get the sail to break evenly. 4)Now start trimming the sheet in until the luffing stops. 5)Check the telltales - Are the middle ones streaming? Keep trimming until they do. If the outside is not streaming - EASE OUT. If the inside is not streaming -TRIM IN. At this point the jib is now set and it is time to work on the main. 1) Trim in the mainsheet until the top batten is parallel with the boom. 2) Adjust the outhaul for the proper draft depth for the wind conditions. Start at about 30%. 3) Adjust the halyard (I prefer the cunningham) so that the draft position is about 50%. 4) Now set the traveler for correct twist. A) Position the traveler so the boom is near the center line of the boat. B) Trim the mainsheet until top batten is parallel to the boom. The top telltale should stream. If it curls, then ease the sheet until it does stream. C) Now you want to slowly start easing the traveler down. Watch the leech of the sail. If the top breaks first - stop and trim the sheet in a bit as you have too much twist. If the bottom breaks first - stop and ease the sheet out a bit as you have too much twist. What you are looking for is an even break up and down the sail plus you want the top telltale streaming. That is your confirmation that twist is set. C) At this point twist is set so now move the traveler up a bit. You are trying to induce about 3 to 5 degrees of weather helm. Why? Because lift equals power and you get it from the sails, keel and rudder and you want to use all of them. This look complicated but it isn't and it appears to be a time consuming process, (I got tired writting it) which it also isn't. After you do it a couple of times you can accomplish the whole thing in less than 2 minutes. Did I confuse anyone? The hardest thing to get is the BRAKE of the sail but once you see it you won't forget it.