Joli

Get an extra long tiller extension, nothing better then standing on the side deck for starts and downwind work.  The line of sight is great, it makes boat placement easy.

 

"WmWalker" (Bill) is a wood artist furniture maker who is a friend of ours, now he wants to make an art piece of a tiller. So he and I mocked up the length of the tiller this morning by playing around in the cockpit much to the amusement of the crew.

_{I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, my wife loves to sail.  Three years ago we brought the boat home in 35 knots, 8~10 footers and cold rain (48 degrees) on Mothers Day.  She thought it was awesome, I thought it sucked.}

_{When the kids were little (2 weeks and on) we brought them to the boat every weekend, as little ones they either sat in their car seat or played in a berth when they could crawl, as toddlers they were like ants in and out of the cabin all day long ( the only rule was life jackets on deck), today they love being on the boat cruising or racing.  But I think the key was Polly loves being on the boat, if that were not the case, if one or the other parent doesn't want to be there it isn't going to work.  Being aboard is can be uncomfortable at times and both parents have to enjoy it through the less pleasant times for the kids to feel secure.} 

_{You are probably doing the right thing if the misses isn't in to it, I hope you stick around and keep chiming in.}

We tension the forward D1's more then the aft D1's.  We do this for pre-bend.

Honestly, they're a fleet of 12 meters down in St Martin. It's off season, send the team's down, pick the short straw, optimize whichever boat you get and go sail. Racing in the Caribbean, what could be better?

Or suck a fishing line through with a vacuum if and when needed....

 

You could run a thin permanent dyneema mouse line through the pipe and tie it off tight. It can be left in as a standby and will add very little friction to the system since it's dyneema.