Working on deck inserts

After finishing the port hull deck planking today, here's how it looked:

That deck curve turned out nice, if I do say so myself. :-)

Next up were the high density inserts. All I've done so far is cut the holes for the inserts - nothing has been bogged yet. As mentioned in my last post, I'm still wondering what other deck hardware I need to make allowances for. So I spent an inordinate amount of time today staring at the deck layout sheet in the plans, and researching on the internet to see what size various fittings are, what they are used for, etc.

Here is the mast step insert cut-out:

Here you can see the bow deck center cleat cut-out:

Yeah, I admit it's probably over-sized -- I tended to err on the side of caution, in cases where exact insert dimensions were not specified.

I didn't realize before, but now I know that with a center cleat you need chocks or fairleads at the edge of the deck to guide the lines so they don't chafe on the hull. Haven't installed those inserts yet for this hull half -- the ideal time would be before bogging in the bow deck foam, so I will probably wait until the hull half is unmolded.

Here's the winch insert, and the cutout for the jib track insert:

One question that's been nagging me all day: what's a "jib track" used for? Seriously now, don't laugh - I'm honestly wondering about this. I'm guessing that the sheets from the jib attach to it, and are then guided back to the winch(es), but why does it need to be on a track? Does it slide back and forth freely while sailing, or is it a tuning mechanism that you adjust periodically? Would love to hear an answer from someone more knowledgeable than I.

I did all of the deck planking from outside of the mold -- awkwards at times, but doable. Once I started working on the h/d inserts, I decided that I needed to get inside the hull. I'm using a 6" wide strip of marine plywood, cushioned at both ends to avoid tearing at the glass:

So far it seems to hold my weight (about 21 stone) okay, but I'm careful to only step on top of the form frames. I'm glad this worked out -- was worried about this part.