Roberto, had a few moments the other day so I threw the solo velcro cover on my AEII. Didn't have the tape measure handy but hopefully this will give you some idea of the arrangement.


AEII open cockpit and LH Velcro Tuck Under solo spray cover - This cover is at least ten years old, design may have changed.


Cover open forward and back. The BOSS cross bar is slightly ahead of rib #3 - the tightening nut abaft the bar is directly over the rib.

I think rigging and striking the mast might be a bit of a stretch with this cover on. I didn't think to sit in the boat and try out the reach. I did it pretty easily without the cover from behind the BOSS mount at rib #3. I'm not sure the angle of the opening will give you enough reach. I haven't used this cover so I don't have any sense of lengthening the velcro opening for better forward access. But it's something worth asking Mark about.
Here are some quick shots of the Hike-out seats



The straps on the Hike-out seats are pretty long and I'm guessing they have that length to reach out and around the cockpit hole of the Expedition spray skirt. I haven't tried it yet. Will advise when I do. I'm not sure how well the velcro tuck under will fare in the same scenario. It was getting dark and I didn't have time to move them over to the big boat so you get to see them on the MK1. I remove the sling seat bottom and replace it with a Type IV Life preserver cushion. I then cover the cushion and center rib with a precision cut (ha) foam pad. I can sit very comfortably on my knees with this set-up and move easily onto the Hike-out seats while sailing.

This last picture shows a fun way to secure all these rudder components at the stern of the boat really easily... the rudder rides in the cockpit.
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