Doug,

To be honest, the stops on my mast step are already worn a bit (5 to 10 degree aprox.) and I know for certain that I am not pointing as well as the figures you stated.

However, due to my lack of experience with this boat, I cannot comment on whether the boat points better or worse with this wear and tear.

I am skeptical though. Some things that have impressed me (very much) with both Hobie and the Hobie community are the longetivity and evolution of the basic H16 design, the sheer number of boats out there, and the huge level of sailing expertise that resides within the Hobie community. Having said that, if filing/grinding those stops could create such a performance enhancement, I would expect the manufacturer to have already made the change, or failing that, these forums to be full of suggestions on how and why it should be done.

Is it possible some other change you made resulted in the performance enhancement?

Dave