Craig,

I've never had a centerboard cruising boat but did recently charter one in the Bahamas. It was a Pearson 40 with a 4'/9' draft. We would put the board all the way down on a beat, if the water was deep enough, about half way down on a beam reach, and all the way up on a run. It tracked fine. One time I forgot to put the board down when beating in light winds (about 10 knots) and didn't notice any significant leeway.

Chris