Another short tryout, and oh my, does the boat feel different!
The effects of the new, lighter and narrower topmast can really be felt for example in a chop.
The rudder works beautifully and has taken away the aggressive weather helm in gusts and when heeling.
A short video can be seen here.
There are things yet to be sorted with the self steering, but still: just look at the tiller when sailing with the wind on the bow - the tiller almost looks like it’s just casually and freely floating. The self steering seems to have a very light job to do.
And let’s not forget that I also painted the mast black. To my eye it looks very nice with the yellow sail and the black unalome-insignia :)