Thanks. I think the Tuning Guide answers the question.
The thingy is an extendable righting pole. Let me know if you want to know more and why I think righting poles suck...

In the meantime I have a righting bag. :)
Several reasons not to use the 4 way system: I don't have it; the boat was parted out and I had to get many parts, most from the guys on this forum. The aft forward adjustment is more than what some other sailboats have, and the thing is already fast enough, and then I often have crew that have never been on a sailboat before, so I really want to keep things simple.
Dan