There was a non-skid pattern in the deck from Pearson when she was built. Maybe someone has re-cored her already. After the re-coring, I did the decks with Kiwi Grip which I highly recommend. The stuff is easy to apply and unbelievably durable.
Never seen a side-opening
hatch on an A35. One issue with the
hatch is that it can snag your
jib sheet under the right conditions. Wrapping a pc. of
line or a pc. of shock cord in the space can eliminate the problem.
I like the look of that brake. I tried the bow
line method as well. The problem is that there is not enough angle from the bow. Recently built a really heavy-duty "ladder" type brake from some 1/2" s.s. stock but have not given it a good test yet. I think it will probably work well. I made a long plate shaped to the boom that spreads the load out. I'm always worried about the possibility of bending the boom with a midpoint preventer. A set preventer has more danger of damaging the boom if the sail hits the water whereas the friction device will give.