Kevin from Quantum came by today to measure the boat up for sails! Okay, with a 4-6 week wait now in the offing, i ought to curb my enthusiasm a bit, but… woohoo! i feel like things are really in the home stretch now!
Got a bunch of things checked off the list these past couple days; outhaul rove, self-tending stays’l rig completed, mast step cross-pin got in, new mainsheet block lashings (the old ones were too tight), um, tops’l jackstay cleat installed, and many many whippings on bitter ends…
i have learned to overestimate running rig lenghths; i bought 120′ of line for the running rig (20′ more than i estimated i’d actually use), and have already run out! Still to install: stays’l halyard, tops’l halyard/sheet/tackline, and jib sheets. i think i’ll use something smaller for those last couple.
Of course, there’s a few other small hardware issues, as well as how i’ve left a few bits to be installed after the sails are here; thataway, if the sails aren’t exact, i han jiggle things to fit without much hassle. For instance, the stays’l boom will almost certianly require much tuning once sailing!

Woohoo! Mast is stepped, standing rigging is up! Still in a pretty rough state of tune, but i’ve left the tails long on the lanyards to allow easy adjustment. still much work to be done on the running rigging, though; i got in the main halyards, mainsheet, jib halyard, and running backstay tails before pretty much running out of line. Still have to make up the fores’l sheet, jib sheets, and tops’l lines (sheet, halyard, and tackline). A small snafu with the length of the forestay came up; i’ve changed a few things to compensate, and ditched the inner bobstay, which (given the diminutive scale) was probably entirely unneccesary anyways.
With everything else up and in place, the only thing that looks at first odd is the 3′ of unsupported topmast above the upper shrouds, but in practice, the tiny tops’l ought not to deflect it much. Just playing with the two runners and mainsheet, i’ve found i can easily pull the truck 6-8″ inches (loads for a 14′ mast) aft or to either side without much effort; this bodes well both for support against the forward/leeward pull of the jibstay/halyard, and for tuning “on the fly”.
The sailmaker is scheduled to take measurements this week! Yay!