Issues with knockout
Hi,
I have a design made up of multiple layers.

I am trying to make the shapes that are filled in white transparent, where they keep their black outline but don't show the layers underneath. I believe knockout is the way to go so I can manage the inner white circle no problem by selecting Minus Front under Pathfinder...

The first problem I have is dealing with the white waves. When I apply a knockout on this it loses the outline where the lower part of the wave intersects the knocked out circle:

How do I knockout but maintain the outline?
The next problem is trying to knockout the sails. I have tried to select both outer and inner black circles and then the sail:

Or I try to group the black circles and do the same with the same result. It works ok if I just select the inner circle (minus the outline problem):

Any pointers gratefully received as I have spent a few hours trying to get my head around this!
