Hello Smiladon and welcome.
This little
boat is IMO just perfect for
learning on. One of the first things you have to learn :-) is that she will perform well in any wind strength from, say, five knots to, say, 22 knots. The amount (area) of sail you wear is adjustable, and it is up to you to choose the right amount for the given conditions. As a starting point: At 5 knots of wind you wear full main and a
genoa of, say, 130% of the area of the foretriangle. She will move along at about 2 1/2 or 3 knots through the
water with very little heel, perhaps 5º.
As the wind rises, she will heel more, and by the time your clinometer (get one if you don't already have one and mount it where you can see it from the helm) reads 15º, it is time to reduce the fore sail to 100% or even 80%. That will happen at about 12 knots of wind. She will now, if the
water is flat, be going her
hull speed (or very nearly) of about 6 knots with about 10º of heel. There is no purpose at all in heeling more than 15º. It will only slow her down and make her "squirrelly".
As the wind rises further and she comes to 15º of heel again, which will happen at about 16 knots of wind, you reduce sail further by taking a
single reef in the
mainsail and leaving the headsail at 80%. She won't go any faster, because she can't, but the heel will come off her, and so will the strain on the
gear, and you, yourself, will feel more in control.
15º of heel is the magic thing watch. She'll be safe enough in 22 or 25 knots of wind PROVIDED you stick to the 15º benchmark for heeling and continue to reduce sail as the wind gets snarly.
What makes a little boat unhappy is not so much the strength of wind, but rather the height of waves and their "period" - essentially the distance between crests. The greater the height and the shorter the period, i.e. the steeper the waves, the more unhappy the boat will get, and in a boat this size, by the time you see spume blowing off the white horses - the foam at the wave crests - you should, as a
novice, already have gone home.
The numbers I have given you above are rather idealized, but you see the principle. As you begin to sail your
new boat, stick to the principle, and get to know what the numbers are for that particular boat, always using the 15º of heel as the datum.
As I understand the geography around Auckland, Hauraki Gulf is just perfect for learning. I wouldn't, in this sort of boat and as a
novice, venture much beyond the two Barrier Islands. Save that till after you have gotten some experience and learned what little boats do in big waters.
All the best
TrentePieds