Expo 14.2 downwind excitement.

In January I gave up on finding an Expo 14.2 and bought a 1984 Capri 14.2 and documented here its refit. As might be expected, after finishing the boat and sailing it once, an Expo 14.2 became available at a great price, so I bought it and sold the Capri the next day on Craigslist. I sailed the Expo yesterday and love the easy set up and take down and easier sailing with similar performance. While running downwind with the sail on the starboard side, I was hit by a big gust of maybe 15mph, and felt like a capsize could happen, so since letting the sheet out wasn't an option, I pushed the tiller towards the sail turning quickly to port, which worked to get upright. I'm not an experienced sailor but have found that this technique works when sailing upwind, but is it also the best way when sailing downwind?
 
This forum seems to be pretty worthless-questions are rarely answered. If anyone is interested I found a video by RYA that showed that I did everything wrong. First, if the wind is blowing hard enough for a capsize, don't sail directly downwind, but instead do a broad reach to avoid the death roll. When sailing directly down wind you push the tiller away from the sail to get the boat up right which is opposite what to do when sailing up wind.
Now to find a better forum.
 
Sorry about your dissapointment, the site is certainly hit or miss but usually something pops up in a matter of time. About your experiance yep it's certainly agreed that running downwind in sporty conditions can be dicey, especially if you're with full main and jib. If you catch an accidental jibe you're toast! Check my posts and you'll see every tidbit of info about the many things I've done to my also ancient Mod 1 1986. On windy days I can punch my way out from the dock with main flaked to the boom using max power on my little Minkota trolling motor. Then lock the helm into close reach heading with my Tiller Tender and hoist my REEFED main. Don't even think about using the jib on super windy days. Get underway on a loose beam reach, letting the sail luff a bit as needed to de-power until you get a handle on conditions. After 5 seasons under my belt I can decide whether to sail or not by checking the hourly forcasts as I'm planning the day. Anything over 15-20 steady with gusts over 25 is enough say no-no!
I paid $1,200 for mine 5 years ago and have probably invested about $2,500 in repairs and upgrades since then. I know the boat so well and doubtful I could recover the investment so I'll just keep her as long as my 68 year old body can keep up!
I wouldn't totally abandon the site, there are some useful things to be seen here.
Cheers!
 

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