I am going to be the contrarian in the group. Off course how you go to windward in a cruising cat varies quite a bit with both wind and sea state. In the normal trade winds around 15 knots I will bring the jib car all the way back and sheet the jib in hard. The same for the main as we will be seeing close to 20 knots apparent. I want flat sails at 20 knots. I also fall off best upwind angle a few degrees and go for extra speed especially if the sea state is a bit rough. In lighter winds I will go for a bit more draft in the sails. The SFD has constantly shifting winds so I switch the autopilot to wind vane and let it handle the course once I get tired of steering. 45 degrees apparent is about the practical max on most condo cats. The Voyage 440 could get to 38 but had half the interior space of a modern 45. It sure sailed well however. We once knocked off 750 nautical miles in 3 days on an ocean transit.
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