Norman Stansfield

If you look at some of the top boats (under 40 feet) they will often have a set of B&Gs... and a Prostart. Why? The Prostarts are easy to use, wireless and battery powered, and connect easily (so I am told) to analysis programs. If you use it correctly it can improve your starts. You can also train your whole crew on how to read the "distance to line" so they know when to trim in and start hiking without you needing to tell them. The compass is very accurate. Speed is GPS speed, so it can be misleading. Somewhat helpful for wind shifts but any good tactician is writing things down as noted

When the 88s came out I think some of the sailmakers offered string drop kits that included the roller and the required lines. You might contact Q or N to see what they have left. My experience with string drops is that they work 9 times out of 10 unless you have pro-level crew on board. And that 10th time can be a disaster since you may end up with a kite halfway raised that cannot be pulled up or down (due to a link kink somewhere in the system). Have a good knife handy. Keep in mind: 1. It will take time to get the system optimized (in terms of crew timing, hardware placement,

This happened to me after a racing bottom job back in 2016. My boat was in both fresh and salt water. We determined there were a variety of causes, but basically the yard rushed the job and did not prep and finish the surfaces properly. The only fix was to completely remove everything and start over. The newer, properly prepared bottom has held up and the orange peel has not returned.

Has anyone sailed both? Which one is faster? What are the differences?