Hi Jim,
I am hoping that:anything is better than nothing and placement is about access and maintaining some manoverability. I have combined a number of ideas sourced ,gratefully,from this forum.I figured the Petrel would be "playful" and I am hoping a skeg will sort it's jolly tendencies out when I just want to go home fast,preferably down wind.
I cut my skeg slot[s] between stations 13 and 14 for my Petrel.The slot box runs right through the boat top to bottom.
at "full deployment I have 17 sq inches.I am going with a pull up and a pull down loop that runs down the shearline past my feet ,through the front bulkhead across the front of the bulkhead and back again[I use the bulkhead as my foot rest and it is angled for my feet not perpendicular.I am using a ball of wood knotted into the line for my feet to locate and push ,one for each side.I am hoping this will mean: instant gratification[no paddle to let go of for a slider knob, no deck clutter to get tangled in & string tension for actuation in both directions.I have not seen this idea working before and I have not tested it yet...soon, soon.
cheers from Paul .nz