I do sail fully ballasted nearly all the time. I have found that single handed, there is little difference in performance full or empty. I only pumped out at the Raid because I seemed to have all the world and his dog on board most of the time, which was seriously weighing me down at t he back. I toyed with the idea of plugging the pipe between the forward and stern tanks and pumping out the latter, to see if it would improve trim, but couldn't find a big enough plug.