Sinbad, congratulations! You're now member of an exclusive group. I wrote up an article about Dirigo Boatworks and the Dirigo 17 based on letters I had sent & received from Elliott Speer and Peter Chase while I served a spell as editor of ANorAK, the journal of the Association of North Atlantic Kayakers, back in the mid-1980s. Now that this thread has become so rich in Dirigo lore, I'm sorry that I no longer have any copies of that issue, as I would love to share it again here. But you've tapped into a real store of knowledge and experience with the Dirigo 17 here, and I'm sure that somebody can come up with a decent answer to any question that you might have. Enjoy!