So far nobody made an offer for the stainless and bronze Aries to me. I am now at the point of my life where I will reconsider my plans and go beyond building an experimental "one off" to exploring the possibility of making a production. I am in the investment casting mold business, that is building molds to produce wax patterns for the lost wax casting foundries. My company builds molds for everything from orthopedic prostheses to jet engine components. That is why I wrote a lengthy post about this previously in 2014 or 2015. I could never find someone who was willing to sell their vane or knew of one for sale. In the 1990s I also talked to the widow of Nick Franklin on the Isle of Wight (off Portsmouth, Southern England), and Mrs. Franklin was very accommodating and she said that the production was stopped since the parts were too expensive and that some people claimed that when the servo paddle swung too far over, there was a problem to undo the control lines. None at that time were available for purchase, as the stainless and bronze were all sold already).  In my own experience, that servo paddle issue should not happen when someone is on deck and not sleeping. The problem does not occur in an instant and then the sails will likely also flop as the boat will dramatically go off its course. If one is willing to be in control of the boat, then this ought not be an issue. At least not for me "again", as I have fallen asleep once sailing down the coast with my Tillermaster autopilot on the Catalina (on a starboard tack) I owned previously and barely missed getting run over by a large schooner coming from the opposite direction. The schooner's large crew had a deck sweeper genny that "obstructed their view" and then they saw me in the last moment. The Boy Scout lesson: Be prepared!.

I do not know what the pricing at the time of the production of the bronze and stainless steel vane for the castings had been, as today the tooling costs have come down due to technological advances such as CNC metal cutting machinery and other labor saving devices. One does not have to do too many metal gymnastics by planning.  I am one of the last dinosaurs with a relatively wide ranging collection of machines (CNC mills, lathes, edm  sinkers  and others). I certain when someone needs spare parts, there are always guys with a bunch of basic mills and lathes, saws and drilling machines. There are even groups that one can find in "Maker Magazine" who try to reinvent the world.  They are a good place for networking and even learning a thing or two!  I missed out on electronic design, as I have a terrific autopilot that gave up it's ghost single handing down the coast between Monterey and San Luis Obispo. That had an old fashioned relay operated circuit  and a drum that had several winding of control line and worked great on the W32 as it was also very powerful, had various course adjustments to reduce the range of course correction. Unfortunately no one that I knew could find the problem with that unit. It was also British made, and the company that made it, is no more. In conclusion, I don't rely on electrical components that can get wet and a mechanical operational device seems to be most reliable for the Westsail.

Having spent quite a long time in Hawaii, all my video and audio cassettes, fax machines paint collections went bad from the salt water moisture.

I wish everyone a full cruising kitty, fair winds and good health in the news year! MZ / SV Polaris.