But if the rake is a good thing why is it not put on the boat from the beginning, when you will have to re-cut the mainsail and extend the forestay. so there must be a reason for not doing the rake and what is that??? The old sharpie had rake built right in to the design as the Bahamas gaff sloop .. .. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harvey Wilson" <HarveyWilson@compuserve.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 10:44 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: For the fun of racing fast fans on the list

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I can't explain how it works, but Jerry told me once that the M17 need some serious mast rake and weather helm to really perform to windward<<

I recall that I was amazed at how much rake Stargazer had when I first sailed her. I took most of it out, then gradually put it back as my skills ( HAH!!) improved. Harvey/Ga M-17 Stargazer #294 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats