We had a few different chutes, but only one or two were packed with rubber bands. To repack without, follow and gather the side and bottom tapes. then pack the belly into the bag. Leave the tapes on top, and tie the corners together with the drawstring of the bag. That's always worked for me.
Yup.
The rubber bands were for putting a spinnaker up in "stops", in windy conditions when you didn't want it to fill early.
There are much faster ways to pack a kite if it doesn't need to be stopped. My go-to method in buoy races was (assuming the kite came down through the forward hatch)
-- go forward and find some section of the foot-tape (usually white)
-- bring it aft, along with the bag, and sit on the upper step of the companionway
-- trace the foot-tape all the way to each corner, then stuff the whole foot into the bag (leaving the corners out)
-- trace one of the luff-tapes (usually red or blue) all the way to the head, and leave it off to the side
(#ProTip - you don't have to trace both luffs - if you trace the foot and one luff, the sail can't possibly be twisted)
-- stuff the whole middle of the sail into the bag, working your way from the bottom up.
-- finally, put the traced tape on top, and leave the head sticking out of the turtle
Ideally, you end up (very quickly!) with a pack where the corners are out, the tapes are clear on top and the belly of the kite is in the bag. It'll come out clean every time and - with practice, and the occasional note of panic in the tactician's voice - only takes a minute or two to do. Even on a SC-70...