many people who build these DON'T put enough ballast into them.
being from a trawler town and growing up to see these ships leave and sometimes return to port......they were ALWAYS low down in the water....water lines made not a jot of difference to the owners who sent them to sea..............because they were all fantastic sea boats and took more punishment than any ship I know..............so you will be excused if you put in a little more ballast than recommended in the instructions...............I built three of these plus a Milford star (and still hold the record for the sale of one at Christies, London for the amount it brought)...and all sailed beautifully with just that little more lead in the bottom..........you will not be disappointed....they are a great model, nice to build and very nice to sail.........and with that little bit of extra ballast which they can carry easily........should not be tender at all.