Tom, and the rest,
We have had an EHo 24 (Manitou) for 17 years now, in Minnesota. Nice, comfortable, spacious, and very beutiful. We get lots of compliments on it’s looks at docks or on the water, even from large power cruisers.
There was a question about chainplates, which do look small, but here are a few factors in their favor. This is a very wide boat compared to, say, a bluewater boat like a Cape Dory. Wider means less tension when heeled (or rolled). Both have shrouds clear out to the rails, and both are fastened right to the deck. So it’s down to deck and backing plate strength. I made larger backing plates, bedded in with thick epoxy, rather than fastening to the hull.
Some modifications over the years: Twin mid-boom mainsheets, bowsprit, propane heater and cooker, regular head, 35 gal. holding tank, 4 batteries, big alternator, 12v refrigerator, large fore and aft ports in the doghouse for inside steering using a remote tillerpilot controller, stereo, video, microwave, experimental lightning gear, inverter. The list goes on. One project this winter is to make a set of doors for the companionway.
The bowsprit project was successful in a few ways I’d like to mention. It made room for a larger, modern-furling 150% genoa, which in turn added speed and removed nearly all of the weather helm. With the tack further forward, the reduced angle of attack into the wind improved pointing. The bowsprit also looks like it belongs on a classic boat like this.
Lately I’m experimenting with barber hauls for the jibs, rigged inside the shrouds for beating.
I'd show a picture, but the "insert image" icon up there seems to be looking for a web page, which I don't have. I could e-mail an attachment to anyone interested.