Tim, I do not believe there is an 'identifier' per say other than the rig being 21" taller. (1' 9") Mainsail still has 4 battens, it is hard to tell the diff. without a tape measure. No real obvious mark. "During the late 70’s we also made 15 or 20 tall rig 17’s; the mast was 1’ 9" taller than normal. Most of these were sold in the light-air areas of southern California and Arizona (mostly sailed in the Sea of Cortez)................." And where do I live? DUH. Heck, I should get a tax credit for this act of sailing improvement! "Performance I’m the kind of guy that from the first time I went sailing I tried to pass every boat in sight, and I’m not alone. One of the fun things in life is to work your way past a Catalina 22 and, once ahead and upwind, oversheet just a bit to rub it in. The 17 is a giant killer. A well-tuned 17 is very close-winded and excels in the extremes. She glides along beautifully in a drifter and will outsail most trailerables of 20 to 22 feet in a blow, particularly upwind. Boats like Potters and Compacs are so far behind they might as well be going the other way, A slow boat is not fun to sail, and I imagine that it’s not fun to have a couple of little kids in an 8’ pram jeer at you as they overtake and sail past. A boat that is a dog in light air or won’t sail to weather against a 25 knot wind is frustrating and a real bore. Think about it. I sometimes joke about "floaters" or "floating house trailers" (boats that float around rather than sail), but they’re really not a joke if you are trying to sail one. I have the attitude that the first requirement of a sailboat is to sail well and I take great pains to make the 17 an outstanding sailboat."

From Jerry Montgomery's "History of the M-17" If you do decide to convert your M-17 to a tall rig I heartily recommend you change out your Windex to the 15" model if you are currently using the 12" dinghy model, you are moving up from dinghy status to bada*z status, and you will need the additional vane size due to the TALL mast. LOL News Flash!!!!! LB/GF! has just contracted with Buzz Ballenger to send out another 8" of extrusion - we liked it soooo much the first time we be going for more! ( will post pictures when this "piece" is completed) Hope that last e-mail "came off" okay - was just making a point for 'doing what you like' with your toys! Ahh........reminds me of a great record, by a short lived band with a killer drum solo and soaring keyboards too............ Go Ginger! Glad to see we got that Canuck Division of Team Geezers up and runnin!! Take Care, Have Fun, Go Sailin' GO Sailing with Blind Faith! Team Geezer Racing.....Old and in the Way Arizona Sailing Squadron

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