Jack Tyler has been working on me to add a mizzen stay sail my sail inventory.  I have added the picture (bottom) he provided me of their 424 Whoosh under maximum sail area on a sail from the Bay Islands to Grand Cayman.

I think I'll start talking to Quantum about this sail in 2004.  In the mean time I'll add another halyard block for this sail to the mizzen.

When we returned from Bermuda I discarded the Dodger (it was badly worn) and began planning for a new one and a Bimini.  I wanted the width of the new Dodger to be inboard of the cockpit coamings so it would not be so difficult to climb out of the cockpit onto the side deck.  I also wanted the Bimini to allow me to stand under it at my full height (6'2").  The later requirement led me to raise the mizzen boom about 1'.  This is the maximum I could raise the boom without requiring the mizzen sail to be re-cut with a shorter hoist.

In 2003 I started to seriously talk to canvas fabricators.  I considered a hard dodger like the Wavestopper, but decided the low main boom and and proximity of the mizzen mast did not make that solution practical for Sarah.  The biggest problem with the fabricators is that there are so few of them in the mid-Chesapeake area.  There are only two in Solomons.  I could go to Annapolis, but even there there are only a handful of shops.  I finally decided to turn the work over to Clark McKinney of Quantum Sails in Solomons.  There were a lot of compromises required to come up with the final product primarily involved with getting around the mizzen  mast in the middle of the cockpit and the low boom over the trunk cabin.  The major compromise for both the Bimini and the Dodger is that I will not be able to lower them with the booms in place.  In order to achieve both head room under the canvas and strength in construction it will not be possible for either of them to fold under the booms.  This is not a major issue for the Dodger as I expect to leave it up in all weather.  However, I may need to remove the Bimini in preparation for a storm.  Currently the solution will be to remove the Bimini cover from the bows and leave the bows in place.  The obvious alternatives are (1) to cut down the height of the Bimini to allow it to be lowered or (2) to re-cut the mizzen to allow the mizzen boom to be raised another foot..  Neither alternative is very attractive.  One solution suggested by a friend is to loosen the set screws holding the secondary bows to the primary bow and allow them to slide down the primary bow until they are low enough to clear the boom, then fold everything forward against the back of the mizzen mast.

I think this solution is workable, but it will require some minor modifications to the existing configuration.

• Install and secure collars immediately above the secondary bow attachment points to provide a reference for where the jaw slides must be secured when raising the Bimini.
• Replace the set screws in the jaw slides with fast pins so the slides can be released and secured quickly.

I'm sure there are other issues that would have to be dealt with to implement the solution.  For sure it will be a 2-person job.  If I am single-handing I will probably have to just take down the cover and leave the bows in place.

In any case I don't plan to make any modifications for a month or two until I get used to having all this canvas around the cockpit.

In summary I am very satisfied with the quality and value I received from Clark and his staff at Quantum Solomons.  My wanting to tweak the design is part of the process of adjusting the product and myself to the best solution, which is never apparent at the start.  The product I received conformed to the design we worked out together and was delivered at a fair price.

Because the mizzen sail control lines are cleated to the boom directly over the Bimini I replaced the cleats with rope clutches on the forward edge of the boom.  This allows them to be adjust easily with a lot more leverage than reaching out over the top of the Bimini while standing on tip toes.  See Mizzen Running Rigging for details.