i thought about rail mounting the
panels, and with a wide flush
deck there would be no problems with trying to walk along the sidedeck. but i always felt they would be in the way when sailing, maybe catching a
jib sheet and getting yanked
overboard. so with the same ingenuity i would need to build side mounts i built a stern mount, using the stern rails and deck to build a mount right over the stern and well out of the way. and able to be tilted easily by adjusting lines attached to the panels, which stood five feet above the stern. and with my
battery bank being near the stern the run from the panels to the controller to the
battery bank was about nine feet.
just my two cents.