As with all boat purchases, the boat is not done until you’re out of money, and there’s always something to be improved on.  So here’s the areas we’ve made modifications in, along withd details on the benefits, negatives, and how-to for installation.  Click on the header for more details on the specific modifications.

Masthead Symmetrical Spinnaker

The boat came with a mast track for a spinnaker pole, but no pole and no symmetrical spinnaker.  While an asymmetrical spinnaker came with the boat, it was small and the tack line was being flown off the anchor chain plate, a non-optimal design.  So, a new carbon spinnaker pole from Harken was ordered, along with a much larger symmetrical kite to go with it.

Electronics

Vitesse came with a bare bones electronics package.  The small B&G chartplotter was located at the Nav station down below, which rendered it pretty useless when on watch.  Especially for overnight cruising / racing, we really needed to have some kind of display in the cockpit.  And with night sailing and typical California coast fog, adding radar was a necessity.

Power

When you’re going to be sailing for days at a time, and want to run the engine as little as possible, power considerations become paramount.  And while it may seem like a simple “What are my power requirements and how much capacity do I need?” question turns out to be far more complex.

Ground Tackle

This has got to be the most overlooked item on most boats (especially stink pots).  Properly sizing your hook and the rode is, in my mind, at or atleast near, the top of the list for safety.  most boats I see in marinas have tiny anchors and likely very little chain.  If you plan to buy an anchor, find the size that is rated for your boat and then get one size bigger.  I opted for a Manson Supreme.  This is kind of a new era anchor when compared to Delta's, CQR's, etc.  My boat rates a 45lbs, but I opted for a 60lbs instead.  I also added 100' of 3/8" BBB chain rode, which gives me a total of 200' of 3/8" chain and 100' of rope.  Considering the Baja Peninsula anchorages are generally about 25' deep, this will more than suffice for a minimum 5:1 scope.  eg; 25' water depth + 5' from water to bow roller = 30' x 5 = 150' for a 5:1 scope.  See the link for anchoring technique.  Very useful...and safe!

Other Miscellaneous Items

Be sure to replace all of your running lights with LED's (masthead too).  They are expensive at about $45 a piece, but with a .09amp draw, they will barely tap your house bank for the roughly 10hrs you will run them while at sea or anchor.