Being the one who originally asked Claus to post his list of suggested modifications and improvements, I feel that the discussion on these is worth continuing, albeit under circumstances that will now generate more light than heat. Hence the new thread.
Personally, I found the list useful as a checklist or wish list. Since I came back to the UK permanently a few weeks ago, I have spent many happy days (or actually weeks) doing stuff to my BR and then testing the mods to see how far I have messed them up. So far, so good and I reckon I have done at least half the things on Claus's list, for no great cost in terms of materials but plenty of cost if my time is included. But as I said, I have enjoyed it. I am currently making a new jib boom out of carbon spars that will allow me to fly both the standard jib and the spinnaker off the same spar and perhaps, in due course, to have the option of using a larger foresail, when circumstances allow. This would have standard sheeting (see Alf’s latest post in the topmast stiffness thread) to take full advantage of the slot effect. Well, that is the idea anyway.
Turning to some of Claus’s suggestions, I have the following comments and queries, mainly because I do not believe these ideas have been aired before or perhaps I have missed them:
Tabernacle bolt holes oblong enough to give full mast raking play.
I am not sure I understand this suggestion but as it is under the heading of must-haves, it must be important. Claus, can you expand on this?
Keel strips surrounding centreboard swivelling pin bolted through.
This must involve drilling up into the ballast tank. I have not checked accessibility (it is chucking it down here) but presumably having done the easy bit, it is possible to reach through one or other of the waterproof hatches to install penny washers or similar and secure the nuts?
Strengthen lower rudder hinge bolt
Why and in what way?
Deflector plate under hull to prevent centreboard case from scooping and fountaining
The centreboard slot generates quite a lot of turbulence at speed but has anybody successfully suppressed it yet? There was a thread a while back that suggested using slot strip daggerboard gaskets from Seamark Nunn. I would have thought that these would be vulnerable to being ripped off when taking the ground and anything more substantial (like a forward deflector plate) would simply get bent every time the boat is loaded on to the trailer.
Claus’s suggestions centre on seaworthiness and the majority of them have been aired before, over quite a period of time, and I think were generally accepted as helpful. I have certainly found them so.
However, if you look at the number of views per thread in this forum, some of the more popular ones concern topics such as swimming, keeping out of the rain and sleeping. Which suggests to me that there are quite a large number of potential SB buyers out there who want to relax rather than rush around (or perhaps do the one after the other). Which leads me to my own must-have: the option of a tailor-made tent for a BR (or expedition version thereof) that can be sealed against Scottish midges and Greek mosquitoes. Boom awnings are good in the absence of these pests and fine midge netting (on its own) works when the weather permits but how often is this the case in Scotland? And I hear that the mosquitoes in Sweden (summer 2012) are only one size down from hornets.
