Mates: I get this question all the time and I have a stock answer but a good friend of mine, Max Munger who is the tresurer and driving force of the Catalina 30 National Association (there would not be a C30 National Association with out Max's efforts) provided me with a better answer. I race with Max at the yearly Catalina 30 National events, which are held all over the US. This year they are being held in San Francisco later this summer. If your a C30 owner on the West coast you should consider this event. The C30 National is the high point of my sailing season and I look forward to it every year. Max is the best racing skipper I've ever sailed with and over the past 3 years I've been on a lot of race boats. His start line technique and overall boat handling skills are great and I learn something new every time I sail with him. Anyway, Max attended a sail trim seminar in Annapolis, which was conducted by Will Keyworth, who is the manager of North Sails Annopolis, and he sent me some of his notes. Here's Will's answer - He said there are a lot of factors which create drag and slow a boat down and they are water, dirty hull, waves, bad sails, improper rigging and probably a few other things but there are SO FEW factors that make a boat go forward that it is a wonder the boat moves at all!! One of these few factors that propel the boat forward are the sails. Since there are few factors doesn't it make sense to properly trim your sails? Geneo Telltales - Will suggested to set the geneo so the bottom telltails are flowing, the middle ones should be bouncing and the top ones can actually stall. His reasoning is that the airflow over the genoa tends to rise and it needs to have a place to escape the back edge more freely higher up. If your leech is too tight, it restrict upward movement. Mainsail Telltales - Will suggests that the top telltail should hide behind the top batten 60% of the time for the same reason as the geneo. I'm sure glad Will Keyworth didn't contradict the sail trim principles I've outlined in my Book and sail Trim Chart. Next time your on the water try out some of these suggestions and see if your boats performance improves.