Roger, Haiko,
I sailed more confortably yesterday both powered up and not. For the first 20 min I was competely overpowered on my 6.5 and it was tough to relax. Then the wind dropped just enough that I was able to plane without oversheeting so much. After 30 min the wind dropped way off so I was underpowered for the next hour. Then for the last hour it picked back up and I was planing off and on. So, it was a good day to practice your suggestions.
I sailed with less arm effort when planing by moving my harness lines foward 1 1/2 inches and kept them about 5 inches apart. The sail was much quieter than when I had the lines 2 inches apart. I moved the lines forward because I think I was oversheeted in the past with just harness pressure. I sailed more upright most of the time and didn't have to pull myself back up nearly as often.
When the wind dropped to 8 knots, I did better too. I didn't lean back so much and focused on not oversheeting the sail.
I had a much better day than last week on the same board and sail in about the same wind so thank you
both for your help. I even sailed for 3 hrs without a snack or water break and that is unheard of for me.
Roger, thank you for saying everyone pulls too much with their arms in windy conditions. I really thought it was only me and was pretty depressed thinking that there was no hope of getting better.
Sam