As a proud owner of a 1999 Oceanis 461, I have had the great fortune and opportunity to have just completed a major refit to the vessel, including repower, all new underwater appendages including rudder and shaft and all associated hardware. I am going to share improvements that I have made to the vessel, to ensure its longevity and many hours of safe comfortable usage, whether offshore or alongside the dock. Going to begin with my new rudder assembly. As you all know or may not know, the rudder and post on this particular vessel are of composite material extending far below the keel, making it of course the lowest point of the vessel. What I did is manufactured a series of crutch style supports in the lazzerette in-between the upper support and lower bearing in order to strengthen the the exit point at the hull. This gives me a greater comfort level. Looking back, I wish I had ordered the new rudder assembly with a stainless post vs. composite but I actually was not aware of the post construction when I ordered the parts...too late now. I can only think this was either done as a weight/performance issue, or maybe there was a concern of the lower bearing area and the composite post was designed as a breaking point. If the latter was true, it proved un-successful in this particular vessels experience anyhow. Much more to come, and please any seaworthy improvements you can share with me would be muchly appreciated.