The boat was finished enough last weekend to put it in for its first race. I was 5:27 faster than last year so that was a nice improvement. I was putting epoxy on the deck in the afternoon before the race. The steering gear worked flawlessly. However, I heard a couple of "CRACK" sounds from the footrest during the race, which was disconcerting. Accordingly, I beefed up the footrest with some carbon fiber struts.

I also placed some reference marks, so I can get a feel for how much the rudder is turned.

Below are some pics of the rudder. It cannot be retracted from the cockpit. It is spring loaded with shock-cord , last weeks course was somewhat weedy with some downed trees and branches that I could just scoot over with out worrying about the rudder getting fouled.

I elected to go with a lipless cockpit surround. I glued 5/16"x5/16" would strips around the cockpit edge and then faired it into the deck with epoxy filled with micro-ballons. Two layers of bias cut 4 oz cloth finished the cockpit in record time. It is a river boat, so there is no need for a skirt. I shipped very little water during the 2 hours it was on the water. I also purchased an "Mini" Andersen bailer but have not installed it. I probably will not.

I know I can be faster. The epoxy on the