Bill. I would be interested to hear more on the MORC rule that you speak of. My experience has been trying to keep the bow up off shore is more valuable than weighting it down. We have found that with a weighted bow we tend to dive into the waves before we go over them. Also with a heavy bow we created a larger bow wave that would come back and spank us on the quarter which would load up the helm. Anyone else experience this?

In terms of performance if racing other Ariels I have seen the negative results if one did add weight to the bow which tells me that the Ariel prefers to sail with her nose up.

And I guess my last point is that I have seen dozens of pictures of Ariels/Commanders under sail, including many in the forum, and most seem to be sailing on their lines. But then who knows they all could have weighted bows.

I am not closed mined on this but I do have an opinion based on my experience and looking at the design of the hull. I would be interested to hear other views. .....ed