My pole costed 30 Euro's, it is not anodised as I was pressed for time to complete my boat. As a matter of fact since 1998 I never used a anodise pole. Seems to hold up just fine anyway.

Which 10 quid block is that ? The main halyard block ? That one should be ball bearing one or it will indeed cease up. Like I said earlier all these things were prototyped and the Blade design has addressed all these points. We can't garantee however what individuals and builders decide to do for other reasons.

You should not worry in my opinion.

Wouter