Charless Fawlkes moved his mainsheet cleat to a little triangular piece of teak mounted to the underside of the existing bridge deck.While it moved the mainsheet cleat a scant 4" astern, it made the bridgedeck an excellent place for a crewman to sit, feet in the companionway, while tending the jib sheets. The slight movement rearward had no effect on sailing performance that I could see; in fact I think Charless won the small boat division of the cruiser challenge one year. If it were me I'd certainly emulate his modification. Cheers Steve Tyree, P-15 In a message dated 8/13/2004 1:39:28 PM Central Standard Time, dwood@woodatwork.com writes: As for the mainsheet, I'm thinking the same way you are; put it back. I haven't had a chance to really test it out in its current configuration, but I'm inclined to believe that Jerry Montgomery knows more about these things than the previous owner. However, I gather the M17s have some sort of traveler on the cockpit floor, and that might be worth exploring, if there's room.