RS400 Upgrades

I think I'm going to go with a system of through deck bushes rather than blocks. Having eyed it up briefly today there doesn't seem to much benefit from screwing blocks to the side tank compared with eyes through the thwart. Yes, they are slightly further inboard so you need to reach in a little bit more but I don't think its a big enough difference to really be noticeable. I also think the bushes look neater than the blocks, and are also a lot cheaper.

The alternative to screwing the upper blocks to the side tank is to attach them to the grab rail. This reduces holes in the hull so is more "waterproof".  The bushes probably won't effect the sucking action of the elastic when pulling the control line on but you may find you have to feed the control line out when letting it off. Personally I would strongly suggest the grab rail placement as they are really easy to use there even when hiking out hard. Yes they don't look as neat as the bushings but primarily I think the control lines should be easy to use. Are there any other boats nearby with the continuous system fitted that way you could try it out and see whether you like it where that boat has them placed. At the end of the day it is personal preference. On a side note for neatness on my last boat I used the block organiser used by the mast on the aero to mount my blocks to with solid black tie on blocks which did look very neat. And as a plastic injection moulding they were much cheaper than the metal straps.