It's all outlined in Barney's Complete Guide to Albacore Sailing, available to USAA & CAA members. Or you can look at the Speed Sails tuning guide (which I don't think is as comprehensive as Barney's guide, but answers some of your questions) See
http://www.speedsails.co.uk/docs/Albacore.pdfBasically, you set the rake before going out and then adjust rig tension depending on conditions and point of sail.
More rake helps depower the boat, less rake means the mast won't bend as much so you'll have to hike harder to keep the boat flat. More rig tension makes the jib luff flatter (less sag) and this helps the boat to point, less tension allows the jib luff to sag off to the side, generating a fuller sail which give more power at the expense of pointing. So, light winds or downwind work call for less rig tension, higher winds and when beating call for more tension. As you become more familiar with the boat, these things can be adjusted for feel - if the boat feels slow, ease the rig tension, if you can't point, try tightening it.
The vang (or the Kicking Strap as they call it in the UK) has a large effect on rig tension, and if you've set the rake and spreaders appropriately, simply apply more vang as the wind picks up - at first it'll help power up the boat by bringing the leech into line, then it powers the rig down by flattening the sail.