Boom gallows

[MADRIGAL]

Does anyone have a permanent boom gallows, and if so, do you find it useful, and are there any problems with it? They used to be common on traditional boats. As a single-hander, I struggle to fit my scissor crutch when changing to the trysail or sailing under headsail alone in a seaway. It would be nice not to have the boom swinging from side to side as it does even with the main sheet taught, and it would ease the tension that the topping lift puts on the upper part of the mast with the fractional rig.

 

[Gary Fox]

Yes absolutely vital, with no problems at all. Why don't more yachts have them? Fashion and marketing I suppose.

 

[Tranona]

Yes absolutely vital, with no problems at all. Why don't more yachts have them? Fashion and marketing I suppose.

No. Most people do not feel the need for a boom gallows. If you have the kind of boat and rig and sail in the way that one would be useful they are invaluable - but for the vast majority of sailors clearly not.

 

[Gary Fox]

Most people may not 'feel the need' for a boom gallows, because they have never sailed with one; just like a dog born with three legs, they have made the best of things, unaware what they lack!

 

[MADRIGAL]

No. Most people do not feel the need for a boom gallows. If you have the kind of boat and rig and sail in the way that one would be useful they are invaluable - but for the vast majority of sailors clearly not.

Certainly the boat, the rig, and the way I sail is what got me thinking about it. Most sailors do seem to get on well without one.

 

[Tranona]

Most people may not 'feel the need' for a boom gallows, because they have never sailed with one; just like a dog born with three legs, they have made the best of things, unaware what they lack!

That is a touch arrogant. Boom gallows were only ever popular on particular types of boats, rigs and sailing and then only a very small minority. Give people the credit for being able to make their own decisions about what is useful for them and what is not. I sailed on a boat with gallows at a time when they were "in fashion" and the owner (very experienced and well travelled) admitted he had only fitted it because "everybody else did" but in fact he never really found it useful . He had subsequent boats built to similar designs and did not fit gallows!

There are many bits of kit that have gone in and out of use over the years, always because something better comes along or people find them no longer useful, for whatever reason.

 

[Tranona]

Certainly the boat, the rig, and the way I sail is what got me thinking about it. Most sailors do seem to get on well without one.

Exactly. Try it if you think it might be useful. Just make sure it is good and strong.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

That is a touch arrogant. Boom gallows were only ever popular on particular types of boats, rigs and sailing and then only a very small minority. Give people the credit for being able to make their own decisions about what is useful for them and what is not. I sailed on a boat with gallows at a time when they were "in fashion" and the owner (very experienced and well travelled) admitted he had only fitted it because "everybody else did" but in fact he never really find it useful . He had subsequent boats built to similar designs and did not fit gallows!

There are many bits of kit that have gone in and out of use over the years, always because something better comes along or people find them no longer useful, for whatever reason.

They were quite popular at one time, but with the advent of alloy spars and manmade canvas, they aren't really necessary. My Dad's first boat, a converted lifeboat, was gaff-rigged with heavy wooden spars and canvas sails. The whole lot was very heavy, and gallows made sense for that; you certainly wouldn't have wanted that lot hanging from a topping lift! ISTR (( I was only about 9-10 at the time) that it was a folding crutch rather than fixed gallows, but it fulfilled the same purpose. So, I can see the point on a more traditional gaff rig, but on a modern alloy bermudan rig, I don't see the point. I have two independent ways of supporting the boom - the topping lift, and a rod-kicker.

 

[Bajansailor]

We have a Challenger 35 fibreglass sloop - I built a boom gallows for her using a (too) tall S/S gantry which had been used for supporting a very high dodger over the companionway and aft end of the coachroof.
I had two S/S plates welded on to the top of the gantry to which I bolted on a timber beam with three half circles cut out for sitting the boom in.
This gantry also serves to support the forward end of a home made fibreglass bimini awning over the cockpit - the aft end is supported on a S/S tubular bar that is clamped between the two backstays.
The bimini has a 50 mm upstand all around the perimeter, to give it rigidity, and also to allow it to act as a rain water collector.
And I also laminated on two fibreglass angles, which apart from stiffening up the structure, are an attachment for securing the solar panel to.
So, even on a relatively 'modern' boat, our gantry is invaluable.
Whenever the mainsail is not in use, the boom is resting in one of the semicircular cut-outs in the timber beam - this reduces the wear on the shackle pins in the mainsheet (even if a side lashing is used to help to stop the boom from trying to swing slightly as the boat rolls).
I will attach a couple of photos below for reference.

 

[Poignard]

Boom gallows: design, construction and method of use

 

[dunedin]

Most people may not 'feel the need' for a boom gallows, because they have never sailed with one; just like a dog born with three legs, they have made the best of things, unaware what they lack!

That’s your opinion and great if you like them. Never seen the need for one - with rod kicker boom is supported well and no need for topping lift or boom crutch. Take main halyard to end of boom when not sailing. Use rope with snap shackle to triangulate main sheet when at anchor - or if sailing jib only on big waves. Simples.

 

[MADRIGAL]

That’s your opinion and great if you like them. Never seen the need for one - with rod kicker boom is supported well and no need for topping lift or boom crutch. Take main halyard to end of boom when not sailing. Use rope with snap shackle to triangulate main sheet when at anchor - or if sailing jib only on big waves. Simples.

Thanks. I see the point. If I had a rod kicker, I probably wouldn’t be thinking of a boom gallows.

 

[MADRIGAL]

Boom gallows: design, construction and method of use

Thank you! I must have missed that thread

 

[Tranona]

Thanks. I see the point. If I had a rod kicker, I probably wouldn’t be thinking of a boom gallows.

If the boat in your avatar is yours it does not seem to look like the sort of boat that would benefit from boom gallows. A rod kicker - even a Barton Boomstrut - would help tame the swinging boom. A boom preventer would help as well. As hinted at in other posts, boom gallows come from heavy old gaff rigged boats where they were indeed very useful. Then they carried over onto the early "bluewater" boats such as Colin Archer copies, LG Ramblers, Golden Hinds etc but pretty soon went out of fashion as sail handling gear improved. They still hang on for some as a sort of "badge of office" but really they have little value on a modern fractional rigged boat.

 

[srm]

I fittted boom gallows to my 42 ft sloop wih heavy wooden spars after the topping lift was inadvertently let go while stowing the main sail. Fortunately, the boom slid off my shoulder. Once fitted I liked it, but have not found the need for one on my subsequent two boats, both smaller, with alloy spars plus lazyjacks.

 

[Gary Fox]

Boom gallows: design, construction and method of use

Did you ever decide and get it fitted? Mine is fabricated of diagonal braced bronze vertical bars, and a wooden cross piece.

 

[Poignard]

Did you ever decide and get it fitted? Mine is fabricated of diagonal braced bronze vertical bars, and a wooden cross piece.

View attachment 117182

No! I started that thread in December 2020 and I haven't been near my boat (in Brittany) since before then.
It's very frustrating!
Thanks for the picture of your gallows. Looks very sturdy.
How did you decide where to locate it? Fore and aft wise.

 

[Gary Fox]

No! I started that thread in December 2020 and I haven't been near my boat (in Brittany) since before then.
It's very frustrating!
Thanks for the picture of your gallows. Looks very sturdy.
How did you decide where to locate it? Fore and aft wise.

It's just behind the cockpit, and just forward of the hatch into the lazarette. The position and layout was by William Atkin the yacht's designer. It's reassuringly strong, which is needed with my heavy spars but also very useful for odd tasks which arise. I don't know how I'd manage without it.
A couple of visitors have said it resembles a medieval punishment stocks!

 

[MADRIGAL]

If the boat in your avatar is yours it does not seem to look like the sort of boat that would benefit from boom gallows. A rod kicker - even a Barton Boomstrut - would help tame the swinging boom. A boom preventer would help as well. As hinted at in other posts, boom gallows come from heavy old gaff rigged boats where they were indeed very useful. Then they carried over onto the early "bluewater" boats such as Colin Archer copies, LG Ramblers, Golden Hinds etc but pretty soon went out of fashion as sail handling gear improved. They still hang on for some as a sort of "badge of office" but really they have little value on a modern fractional rigged boat.

A boom gallows was clearly not envisaged in Ian Proctor’s 1957 design, but I am a
65-year-old partially disabled sailor who has not lost my love of wind and waves and am always looking for kit that would make sailing easier. The scissors type boom crutch is commonly used in these boats, but mine is awkward to set up single-handed under way. I have not seen a boom strut on one of these boats, but that’s an idea definitely worth looking into. Still, a gallows might make a good project for the winter, and give me another piece of teak to varnish.

 

[Poignard]

A boom gallows was clearly not envisaged in Ian Proctor’s 1957 design, but I am a
65-year-old partially disabled sailor who has not lost my love of wind and waves and am always looking for kit that would make sailing easier. The scissors type boom crutch is commonly used in these boats, but mine is awkward to set up single-handed under way. I have not seen a boom strut on one of these boats, but that’s an idea definitely worth looking into. Still, a gallows might make a good project for the winter, and give me another piece of teak to varnish.

Well said!

It’s infuriating when you ask for advice on how to do something you want to do and people, no doubt with the best of intentions, tell you you shouldn't be thinking of doing it at all!