If the boat does not immediately respond, it’s time to depower. Always depower from the aft by depowering the main. The main generally cannot be depowered by releasing the main sheet… it’s already nearly all the way out because you’re on a run. Releasing the boom vang does the trick. This allows the boom to rise and dump air.

As a last resort, release the headsail, either the spinnaker, a genoa or a jib. All this, steering down and depowering happens within just a few seconds.