I second everyone's opinion here. I have the 86, so lifelines are installed. I've taken down the lines before, but the posts sticking up by themselves end up catching more lines and ankles by themselves. I sailed Lake Erie last summer, and a fellow sailor had a C22 without the tethers and have to agree that it feels a tad bit safer with the clean deck. If I were to go that route, I'd likely setup a tether system that I'd clip into when going up onto the deck while underway.