On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:45:22 -0700, terry
wrote:

So the extra difficulty and cost of RG8 is
justified; as compared to putting the VHF whip much lower down on the
boat etc. don't think it's major concern.

You don't need the weight and size of RG8 to get good low loss cable
but it does cost more than RG8. I once spent $100+ for a spool of
military grade low loss coax insulated with teflon. It made a
dramatic improvement in VHF radio performance.