If you can’t use PTFE spray for environmental reasons, would this stuff be any good? https://www.getools.co.uk/product/ambersil-silicone-food-grade/.  I use it on my trailer rollers.

I had the same problems with hoisting the main.
Two tips (worked for me):
- clean rail at the start of the season with brush and water (car washing tools) and when dry spray with sometihing like PTFE spray
- use a bead at the end of the main halyard instead of a knot (hopefully visible on the photo) to minimise the lenght of rope between the the top sheave and the top eye. Also better alingment, IF you use the bead on the right side. You will see!

My mainhalyard is the 6 mm rope that came with the boat, after 10 years of use it is still OK but now 7 mm.
The photo shows the top of the sail when reefed. Hope this helps.
BR
Peter

Willie - the BC26 pump is a Johnson FB4-19 model 10-24689-01 to be precise (well it is on my boat). It's probably rather OTT for a BRe as it pumps 45l/min and draws 10-12A, but we have 750l of ballast to dump. Attached is a photo of most of it mounted the wrong way up in my locker. The 26 also has a relatively complicated plumbing arrangement where the pump can be switched between ballast or bilge, and you can use either electric or manual pump.

Regarding wiring, on the 26 it is cabled via the bulkheads to the main switch/fuse panel which is where it is operated from, much as I think you're suggesting on your BRe. Can't give you any advice on what would be ok or not on a BRe I'm afraid.

I have just failed the boat Saftey scheme test  on the side access gas locker have not yet had a chance to talk to the examiner but he said will be big job to get it passed, has anybody else had this problem. When I know what the problem is will put it up here.

There’s an interesting new app from PredictWind called PredictCurrent.  So far it’s only available on Apple devices (but not my elderly iPad).  They offer a free 2-week trial.

It gives a clear map-based graphical indication of forecast sea currents, hour by hour.  This is particularly useful for planning sailing in light winds or to motor with an electric outboard, which struggles against strong currents.  I’ll be trying it out shortly in the Outer Hebrides, where the tidal currents between the islands can be strong.

The app is not perfect as, so far at least, it doesn’t cover narrow passages like the Menai Strait and the Swale, where information on currents is crucial.

It also gives wind speed and wave height forecasts and an indication of sea temperature.  Anything below 14°C is shown as a uniform purple colour on the map, which means that at the moment the whole sea area from the UK to the Arctic is the same colour.