Tag: boom

Boom, Rigging16 Comments

Control Your Mainsail Shape Better With a Boom Vang

$tingy Sailor

A boom vang is a useful control for your mainsail, especially if the mainsail is older and acting its age. That is, if it’s getting baggy and is difficult to flatten, particularly when you’re pointed off the wind. For better performance and safety, you need to be able to pull excess twist out of the mainsail and flatten the leech. The best way to do that is with a boom vang. It has the added benefit of preventing the end of the boom from raising so high during gybes that it can snag the backstay, a potentially dangerous situation if the wind is strong enough.

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Tips1 Comment

Beware of Galvanic Corrosion!

$tingy Sailor

Galvanic corrosion can happen when dissimilar metals, stainless steel and aluminum, for example, are in contact with each other, exposed to an electrolyte, and an electrical current is applied. That’s the technical definition. The layman’s definition is it’s the white stuff that grows around your stainless steel fasteners in your aluminum mast and boom when you are around salt water.

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Boom9 Comments

Control Mainsail Draft with a Boom Downhaul

$tingy Sailor

A boom downhaul is one of the three possible control lines for the three sides of the mainsail. The other two are the boom vang (controls leech tension) and the mainsail outhaul (controls foot tension). Catalina 22 and similar sailboats have a  short length of line attached to the bottom of the gooseneck car on the boom that ties off to a cleat at the base of the mast as shown below.  It simply keeps the boom from sliding up past a certain point on the mast after you hoist the mainsail. It gets the job done but it isn’t easy to adjust, especially while under sail.

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Boom3 Comments

Let Your Boom Off Its Leash With a Topping Lift

$tingy Sailor

The standard equipment C-22 backstay pendant is simple and handy for holding up the boom when the mainsail is lowered. It also works fine to keep the boom more or less centered over the boat when docked or anchored. But it’s not very convenient for shorter crew members to reach and it won’t help you when reefing the mainsail. In fact, it can be downright dangerous for that. A better solution is an adjustable topping lift mounted on the boom within easier reach.  It will also let the boom swing free of the backstay when you need to slack the main during reefing.

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