These are FUN boats to fool around with. I was considering an inner stay and then be able to use a stasail and a yankee with the main. Then I realized, with such a tiny "J" measurement where is all that stuff going to fit on the foredeck? A 17 foot boat on a 15' foot waterline. Displacing, what 1600#'s? I am guilty as anybody of "sailboatitice". Imflammation and swelling of how big I think my 17' Monty is. When redoing mine I wanted to get rid of the "bleach bottle" look inside so I installed "beadboard" paneling. I was concerned that once I cut holes in the athwartship bulkhead by the mast step that bulkhead would buckle. I did see that happen on a friend's Monty. So I installed a 3/4 inch plywood bulkhead attached to the existing one, which I then paneled. Because I had trouble with an older boat (and a larger one) running out of electricity I installed a series 27 battery in my Monty instead of the Series 24. When I saw that the hatchboards were what I thought too thin to take a boarding sea (like I was going to cross the Atlantic in my 17) I remade them out of very dense Mahogany 3/4 inch thick. Then added a five pound porthole in the top board so I could stay below and watch those boarding seas. I replaced a 20# stock mahogany rudder with a "bluewater" level kickup one by Ruddercraft ( a thing of beauty) which weighs 43 pounds. To make a long story interminable, when I finally launched the boat the boot stripe never again saw the light of day. The next time I informally race another boat I probably will end up jettisoning all the extra anchors, lifejackets, lines, whisker poles and an 11' "poling pole" to push myself off the sandbars I can no longer float over. Next project is to run all the lines from the mast around the main hatch (which I beefed up just in case a large person stepped on it) to another winch and various turning blocks and jam cleats to I won't have to make the LONG trek up to the mast to adjust any lines. Walter Mittey is my hero. I do get to read a lot of names on other boats' transoms too. These are fun boats to use though. When I recently paid a small fortune to Seabrook Marine Service to do a "proper" bottom job on my Monty it ended up looking like they let someone's child have at it with a swab mop. When I queried the manager about it he demurely said " I wouldn't take that racing". So who races anyway? I just load up my dream boat and imagine far flung sandy shores that will forever remain in my mind's eye only. Gee these are fun boats!!! Fair winds, Tom B, Monty 17, #258, "AS-IS"