Marc
look from this perspective: boat design forum = 5 viewers; buying a boat = 20 viewers; gear and maintenance = 60 viewers. Finaly Beneteau forum = 2 viewers. That's say something about Benes owners. They are all out there sailing rather fixing complex systems
. As per your mention, you're enjoying bringing it to yor specs, not big fixture. What I can say is I have 2 good friends owning 473 (2004 and 2006), and they take all trophies on family races organized here. Even with a single genoa (looks a code zero the damm big) I have a hard time to catch them with my previous Frers 40 !! They are very fast boats. And don't remember these friends at a yard, or docked for repair, other that antifouling paint, and minor cosmetics to their specs, you know ? Enjoy your boat, and remember it is as outdated as you want, the more you care, the more it demand. These are Benies, and that's exactly what I expect from mine ...