Best balance for soloing

Is there a rule of thumb to look for when soloing to tell when you are trimmed correctly? Like the stern should always be above the water or something?

I was out last night and it seemed a little faster if the hulls were more level with the water.

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84 14T Redline #67 Blue Hawaii faded but still working!
82 Yellow hull16 '81 Boomer nationals 20.9 on GPS
83 White hull 16 No sails "Clean and Purty Now!"
87 White hull no sails no tramp

Flatter and smoother in the water is always faster. This applies to all hydro dynamics. The only exception is when you are either in a planing hull or you are flying a hull in a catamaran. In both instances you are reducing the friction by removing the amount of surface area in contact with the water. Most beginning sailors only think about balancing weight on the windward side to counter act the heeling to leeward. But there are forward and aft forces at work as well.

You are right in that you want the hulls as flat as possible (without risking a pitch pole in rough seas). This matters when balancing the boat with the center of effort. When heading up the sails are pushing the stern down and you want to to place your weight forward until the hulls are flatter. This matters most because the transom on the hulls are flat and when they are really digging in they create a tremendous amount of drag. Conversely, when on a run, the wind pressure on the sails will push the bow down and you will need to balance your weight aft (potentially, usually this is negligible and you can position yourself pretty far aft).

Likewise in light winds it may make sense to position yourself close to the centerline to keep the windward hull digging in too much (if you're a hefty guy).

You have to take what nature gives you and adjust your sails AND yourself accordingly. Thats what makes sailing an art as well as a science.

A good way to see "flat" is when the boat's on the trailer, harder to visualize when you're on the boat
Draw a line parallel with the trampoline and the sterns are out of the water

Yeah, the 14 is very sensitive to weight placement
Sometimes seems like just turning your head will mess up the balance

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1984 H16 "Mister Rogers"
1984 H14 "Sundays"
2000 H20 "Jet"
Sheet In, Max Out

I am getting more used to it. Hell I should be! I have sailed it probably 30 times so far this summer! I only started sailing this year but I think I am doing pretty well. I was out the other day in 5-10 with some gusts ~ 18 and I kept it hull side down.

I have been noticing that flatter seemed faster so it's good to know I am on the right track. And I have also noticed how twitchy it is when turning/ moving to look around to see who I am going to run over.

I have been out a few nights when I wasn't sure I was even going to go anywhere. I was sitting leaning my back against the shroud and with basically zero wind that seemed about right. It is pretty crazy to see surveyors tape barely move and you can sail across the lake and back.

Thanks for the tips

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84 14T Redline #67 Blue Hawaii faded but still working!
82 Yellow hull16 '81 Boomer nationals 20.9 on GPS
83 White hull 16 No sails "Clean and Purty Now!"
87 White hull no sails no tramp

Went out last night for ~ 3 hours in ~ 4 steady with some gusts to ~10. I only had the rudders humming a few short times. I did however sit much further forward than I had in the past and I am pretty sure I found the balance point. I could feel when the bow and stern would rock from that point. I had a good feel for what the boat was doing and going to do. I am sure I had it flatter than I had ever in the past and it did make a big difference on speed. In the past there would be times I would feel the wind blowing pretty decent but I wasn't really moving much. But last night I never felt like the wind was passing me by! I felt like I was moving with the wind the whole time.

Dam this is getting addictive! Good thing I have a wetsuit from surfing, I think I am going to need it.

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84 14T Redline #67 Blue Hawaii faded but still working!
82 Yellow hull16 '81 Boomer nationals 20.9 on GPS
83 White hull 16 No sails "Clean and Purty Now!"
87 White hull no sails no tramp

Went out tonight again. I had some pretty good gusts ~ 15-20. Got really humming literally a few times. Was screaming along lee bow just above the water and had a bigger gust hit and you guessed it.. PLOWED the bows under! Both went in all the way down to the front cross member going under and water coming over the tramp. The stern started coming up and I thought, HERE I GO! So I dump a bunch of main sheet and crab walk back wards up the steadily rising stern. Suddenly the stern started dropping! I pull in a little main and sail right out from under the water! Big rush of water flows down the tramp and I got soaked but it was ~ 90 degrees so I was thankful for the cool off.
Immediately I was flying again like it never happened.

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84 14T Redline #67 Blue Hawaii faded but still working!
82 Yellow hull16 '81 Boomer nationals 20.9 on GPS
83 White hull 16 No sails "Clean and Purty Now!"
87 White hull no sails no tramp

SAIL ON BROTHER!

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1984 H16 "Mister Rogers"
1984 H14 "Sundays"
2000 H20 "Jet"
Sheet In, Max Out