Boom claws

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footsoldier

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Has anyone knowledge of who still stocks/manufactures boom claws? I have phoned numerous mainstream chandlers - the younger staff have never heard of them and the older ones say they haven't seen one for 20 years or more! Someone must still have a hidden hoard.
 
I have a surplus one in good nick. Internal diameter is 19cms and came off a 30foot boat. If it might suit you, PM me.
 
Known as claw rings.

Sould be available in several sizes. Mine is smaller than tugboats, about 120 mm. I'm sure there is/was a smaller one than that. Larger ones have double rollers.

Roller reefing booms not as popular as they once were I guess.
 
I too have a roller reefing boom and wandered about reefing and the kicker. The boat came with a piece of carpet that you put in and folds in as the sail is reefed around the boom, and has a rope attached to go to the base of the mast to act as a kicker. In my mind, this is not the ideal solution.... so how do these claws work? Looking at the pic of your link.... I would guess after you have reefed the sail in, the claw fits over the top of the boom and is then pulled down by attaching a rope.... close, or completely gone off on one?
 
Pretty much that. You have a kicking strap as usual which connects to the claw instead of a fitting on the boom. You also need a line from the end of the boom to the claw to stop it sliding towards the mast when you apply tension.
 
The claw is kept permanently rigged on the boom in the position where a kicking strap arrangent would otherwise be attached to the boom. The kicking strap connects to the claw and there is a line from the claw to the clew end of the boom to keep it in place. When you want to reef, the boom is rotated and the sail feeds down onto the boom through the slot in the claw. The rollers reduce friction and prevent chafe damage to the sail. HTH.
 
Thanks for the info. Typically I have mislaid the boom measurement I took, but I think it is smaller than that.
I'll have to go and re-measure. I assume you have to make an allowance for the rolled sail?
 
Lescargot's and tugboats descriptions say it all really except for one thing namely that the line from the claw ring to the end of the boom has to be attached to the same swivel as the mainsheet not to the boom itself.

Both kicker and the above "guy" attach to a shackle through a hole at the bottom of the ring.

It is only marginally better that the arrangement you have although a piece of carpet may not be the best thing to use.

I had a claw ring arrangement. The problems were that the attachment point for the kicker was so low that the power of the kicker was severely reduced and the mainsheet swivel was not sturdy enough to withstand the horizontal pull of the guy; it bent!

I changed to slab reefing to overcome boom drop and lousy sail shape when reefed so that gave me the opportunity to ditch the claw and fit a decent kicker to a key-hole plate on the boom. Much better all round.

If you really do want to give a claw ring a try then one abot 120mm or 5" should be the size to use. There is a smaller one available, I think from Holt Allen, but it'll be too small I think.

I thought I might have a diagram on Photobucket but I'm afraid I dont
 
My boat has a claw and a seperate kicker. I don't find the claw walks up and down the boom too much, although as I've moved the mainsheet track back to halfway along the cockpit since this shot it does move a bit more. Doesn't seem to be a problem though.

Boxing%20Day%20sail.jpg
 
But thats a claw ring to attach the main sheet. Having the mainsheet position forward like that rather than from the end of the boom to a horse or traveller at the back of the cockpit will give you much better control of sail shape, assuming it is on a traveller with control lines.

Johnathan Kent's question was about using one for the kicker. But the original question which started the thread did not say what it was for.

I can't see from the picture what reefing system you have. If it is a roller how do you attach the kicker when reefed?

If you do not have a swivel on the end of the boom there will be nowhere to attach the "guy" from a ring on the kicker. It is essental not optional! If there is, then on a set up like yours you would put a guy from the kicker claw ring to the mainsheet claw ring and then from there to the boom end.
 
That's all I have. It's a Barton gearbox type. The kicking strap is disconnected if you reef. Same as my last boat. I have a main traveller so I guess I can shift it to the lee and use the mainsheet to flatten the sail, using the traveller assembly to trim with.
 
It is as the picture but you have a claw where the kicker is on this photo.
On my Dad's old boat the main sheet was attached to the end of the boom which obviously revolved as well. We found that when reefing you had to keep an eye on the claw or it would jam on the sail and get reefed with the sail, so you needed one hand to winch the boom roller and the other to stop the claw jamming. Great fun in a blow!
Not a great design but it worked, possibly easier than your carpet arrangement!
 
As a tip they aren't too difficult to make from sheet aluminium. You would be looking at 20mm say.
The rollers could be pillaged from old blocks or just made from delrin rod.
 
Thanks for the guide. My kicker is currently attached using shackles to a rivitted ring on the undersdie of the boom. The mainsheet is attached at the very end of the boom and doesn't rotate when the boom does. To reef, I have to undo the shackles, remove the kicker setup, then put in this 'home made' job with the sail as I reef down & rotate the boom. I would obviously prefer not to have to undo the kicker & shackles and to keep it constantly fixed in place at all times. Would using one of these claws do what I would like it to do?

Out of interest, how much should it cost for me to have my main altered to give me slab reefing.... its approx 90sq ft and would probably have 2 reefing points put in... any ideas?
 
Hi,
There is a claw and kicker assembly for sale on ebay, at the moment only £3.oo. It is item no. 170015932596, sorry I don't know how to post a link!!
Cheers, Ian.
 
I have found a diagram in an old SWOA modifications manual

49ee8c1f.jpg


It also shows a keyhole plate which would now be redundant . It would be more normal/better for the lower block on the kicker to have a jamming cleat rather than use one of the mast cleats.

[ QUOTE ]
Would using one of these claws do what I would like it to do?

[/ QUOTE ] It will do what you want, it'll stay in place all the time and avoid the fiddle of undoing shackles but it may not do it as well as you might like. Make sure the mainsheet attachment on the boom end will stand the horizontal pull exerted on it.


Sorry I have no idea how much it'll cost to put two rows of reefing points in the main. I had mine done years and years ago so even if I went and looked up how much I paid it would be totally irrelevant now. You will have to get a quote or two from local sailmakers.
If you go for slab reefing you will need to consider how you anchor the luff. I made "rams horns" from a couple of large shackles but I suppose a single line system is the alternative.
 
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