My rudder set up looks like yours. I have bent the little keeper "clip" back to make sure it contacts the pintle.

The clip makes solid contact. I was just thinking it might be good to have some sort of positive locking feature to make sure the rudder doesn't accidentally pop out in rough conditions

The hole in the end of the tiller looks like it may be for a tiller extension. Is there one rolling around below the cockpit somewhere? I agree that a longer tiller would be useful.

No, nothing the previous owner left behind anyway. And yes, that hole looks ideally suited for an extension. I gather that the Forespar extension seems to work for a lot of people here.

I would be concerned about the swivel block on the end of the boom. Does the sheet get twisted?

Don't know. But if I move the main sheet cleat back to its original position (and I probably will), that will also be removed and replaced with the original block.

How does the boat sail with that mainsheet arrangement? Is is hard to sheet in, or do you have enough experience with it?

Not yet. I'll leave it the way it is for now. But by this winter I expect to have figured out what works for me and what doesn't.

I am thinking of going to a Ronstan Smart Ratchet block on the end of my boom with either a single block and cam or fiddle block and cam. I beleve if the ratchet is on the end of the boom it should give more assistance when holding the main as it would be wrapped a fulll 180 degrees around the block.

I'll check that out. Thanks for the info.

Enjoy your M Boat!

That's my plan! Thanks! David =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= David W. Wood -=- dwood@woodatwork.com 1981 M15 -=- Hull #163