Of course it'll depend but can you download with your bare hand and no protection? When it starts to get difficult, do you sometimes need to go quite a bit harder still?

On a side note, does heavy downhaul tension increase chances of breaking mast in the waves?

I use the markers on new sails at the leach.

Pull it by hand, fit the boom on, then using a Marlin Spike knot use a screwdriver with foot against the mast.
The knots really easy and comes undone straight away when you have finished with it.

To do the knot:
holding the downhaul line with left hand up to and then about 6inches lower hold with the right hand.
Move the right hand up and then give it a flick so the rope makes a number 6 still holding with both hands.
Now fold the number 6 loop but on top of the to bit of the 6.
slide a screwdriver through the right loop, behind the tail and through the left loop.
Pull like crap with your foot on the mast base and both hands on the screwdriver.

Once done slide the screwdriver out of the knot and push knot open and it should sort of got back to a single bit of rope again.

Don't blame me if you get it wrong and punch yourself in the face, but if you get it right then its a great knot to use.

15 years ago I could downhaul my sails by hand with no protection. 10 years ago, that started to split the skin on top of my hand, so I had to use a puller. These days with race sails I need a winch.

Interesting, thanks!

I'm talking wave sails only.
Ezzy's feel not as hard as others.
Know of some brands were tension is higher in particular?

I find it easier to pull until it's good rather than stop and tighten again like momentum is in our favor!

Up to 6.3 I can just pull with the cyclops extension loop that has the plastic tube over the rope. Above that I use a clam cleat or my harness.

I pull my blades to where it says, which ends up with the leech loose to about halfway to the mast between the top battens. On the water it looks like this (5.0 here). I'm sure there's more I can tweak. I don't get many days where I get to use a sail this small so I'm still very much learning.

I use a handle cut from an old ally boom with nice comfortable non slip eva. Wrap the downhaul around the handle once, over the standing part and back the other way with a couple of winds around the handle. No knots, no slipping, comfortable two handed pull.

Bowline knot and the harness hook (with the harness over the hips), saves the back as the legs will do all the work. Works well even for the most stubborn Formula sails. :)

I don't remember big said being any harder than small ones. Do you feel that's true?

Longer masts are stiffer but since they are longer we have more leverage against them so it kinda cancels it out

If needed we can outhaul a bit to prebend the mast and make it easier to pull the last remaining cm or 2. Only thing is that it hides neutral leech looseness some.

Large race-sails (>10m^2) are harder to downhaul than smaller ones, and wave-sails are even easier. Wave-sails with pulleys are really a breeze to downhaul with a suitable extension.

Yeah there's a big difference between my 5.0 and 6.7 blade. And the 9.0 hgo with 530 sdm is pretty stiff too downhaul.

Usually with wave sails I don't go quite as hard as the recommended settings as I still like a bit of Leech tension, still have a little twist but I like a little more feedback and a little more grunt.
Smaller sails are used a lot less as we just haven't had the wind and I do Normally give them a little more downhaul.

This is how we rig over here too unless sailing bigger sizes. I prefer a smaller size for reactivity and fun factor.

There's a point where the downhaul gets a little hard, I like that feedback, helps me know where I am. Also when getting really close to the pulley I feel like it's harder than when we add 2cms for the same downhaul length.