Hi all,

We have hull 1229, a 1993 with the narrow stern and walk-thru transom.  She's wonderful in so many ways but we need to replace all the canvas and we're looking into more extensive framing and rail changes to make her better fit our wants and needs for the long-term.  We spoke yesterday with a canvas pro who can also do stainless fabrication and an offbeat idea was posed that I'd love to get group feedback on.

First off, we want to add davits.  Second off, right now our wheel and stern feel extra narrow and restricted because of existing bimini framing, and because our boat's PO fabricated his own perch seats inside the factory rails (they're a nice effort but not comfy).  CD offers the Mk 1.5 retrofit stern perch kit where the pulpit's side rails extend aft to form a seat beyond the cockpit, then the rails return to meet the existing boarding ladder.  The attached photo shows such an arrangement on a sister ship (those davits might be a tad low to avoid the dink dragging when heeled...?)

The attached sketch shows the stern rail arrangement the canvas guy suggested in red...and the OEM rails in blue.  The ladder would need to be modified accordingly.  On the plus side, assuming good backing plates and strong welds, the proposed rail expansion gives a much more spacious stern experience akin to a Mk 2.  And also on the plus side, my (much fairer) co-captain likes this concept.  On the minus side, it will shift weight a bit, it may push the davit mounting further aft...and something is nagging at me that if this was a really good idea someone else would have done it already so we'd see photos online.  Safe sailing is generally a conservative activity and such boat modifications are safety critical.  What does the group think of the concept (excluding the associated boat bucks)...is it worth exploring for extra room or should we stick to the more conventional, tried and true perch rail approach? 

Many thanks in advance!