Hello all.  I just wanted to share with everyone, everything I do, every day, Just so you all know how much work is involved in preparing a boat for a singlehanded ocean race.  So, let’s begin:

I’ve been sanding my mast for the last four days in preparation for installing all the hardware including spreaders, shiv boxes and rigging terminations.  I picked it up on Saturday from Fort Lauderdale after borrowing a trailer from The Edison Sailing Center here in Fort Myers.  Four days of sanding later, over one hundred dollars in sanding discs, and a lot of carbon dust matted on sun screen and the tube looks beautiful.  However, I will never again be so liberal with carbon/epoxy putty. 

I’m also including images of the chainplates which I just finished building to allow for overlapping headsails upwind.  This should vastly improve Ms. Minkoff’s light air performance and make her a much better all around performer. 

-Ryan Finn