Mike Vacanti

Thank you for the confirmation. I recognized it by the shape of the bow, his designs all share that shape.

Is that a Gilles Montaubin design?

Harken makes very nice stuff but their prices have gotten out of hand.

I tried sending you a email inquiry regarding your boat. I haven't heard from you and want to make sure my email didn't land in your spam filter.

I can’t be sure but I’d bet that the bottom isn’t painted but rather coated with an epoxy graphite powder mixture. It’s a lot tougher than paint.

I would wonder if the hull is strong enough to handle 18 knots in any kind of chop.

The latest CS 20 Mk I plans have the details for a main mast tabernacle, I assume the CS 17 Mk I plans are the same.

As mentioned, fir is heavier than okoume but fir will also check badly unless covered with a layer of fiberglass set in epoxy.

The 20 minute induction time is before the thinner is added and is explicitly called for by the manufacturer.

There is another way to attach a halyard that is easy to undo and allows the sail to use the full hoist of the halyard. Here is a picture: knotless halyard attach

Here is a commercially made auto-inflating mast head float, Secumar. I've never used one of these or even seen one. I imagine it would be raised to the mast head using a continuous line halyard. It's also fairly expensive and it would have to be ordered from Germany. But it would have less windage than a solid float.

You probably don't have the correct CODEC installed. Usually a message to that effect will pop up when you try to open the video.

Spawn is a class 4 boat that finished 6 hours behind Randy Smyth's Nacra catamaran. It is a seriously fast boat and the guys who sail it really know what they are doing.

Topside paint is not waterproof, it is normal for it to bubble or lift if soaked in water for a week.

What type of plywood to use for small boat construction is a source of never ending debate in internet discussions. Personally, I wouldn't build a boat with anything other than name brand marine plywood. Joubert and Brynzeel are 2 very good manufacturers. I know that some low quality far eastern manufacturers stamp their plywood with 1088 but it's really meaningless. The reputation of the manufacturer is the important thing.