Thanks John, great info. That makes sense with a pic I saw recently where there was a block on the front crossbar with a line through it attached to the forestay adjuster. Interestingly, there were 2 forestay adjusters, are people sailing these days with that much rake? There was also quite a bit of line wrapped around the mast base and front crossbar - is the rig so loose that you need that kind of connective reinforcement? And finally, why put your foot on the boom, to rotate the mast max for downwind legs? Thanks for any info.