dewshi
Member
The boom of my 28' Dutch Sailing Barge crosses the cockpit and definitely risks braining me & crew in a gybe.
I'm getting new sails made. Is it viable to have them cut so the boom doesn't lie horizontal, but gives some headroom? i.e the foot slopes upwards at an angle going up from the gooseneck to clew. I guess the reefing points would have to follow the same line. Maybe 10 degrees giving 30cm height at the end would do it. I understand I'd lose some sail area.
In the attached photo you can see the coach roof slopes upwards also, so the boom needs to clear it anyway. Obvs, I've got the original sails. But they are quite old and have lost their shape, so I'm not sure how the original design of the boat was intended. It was built in 1990 modelled a Lemsteraark gaffer. Pics of these on the internet seem to show them sailing with the boom at a jaunty angle. At the moment, when my main sail is fully unreefed and pulled reasonably tight at the peak, the boom still scrapes the wooden support block on the coach roof when at rest, so doesn't seem right.
I've got the chance to improve with new sails. Any advice or thoughts about this appreciated !!
I'm getting new sails made. Is it viable to have them cut so the boom doesn't lie horizontal, but gives some headroom? i.e the foot slopes upwards at an angle going up from the gooseneck to clew. I guess the reefing points would have to follow the same line. Maybe 10 degrees giving 30cm height at the end would do it. I understand I'd lose some sail area.
In the attached photo you can see the coach roof slopes upwards also, so the boom needs to clear it anyway. Obvs, I've got the original sails. But they are quite old and have lost their shape, so I'm not sure how the original design of the boat was intended. It was built in 1990 modelled a Lemsteraark gaffer. Pics of these on the internet seem to show them sailing with the boom at a jaunty angle. At the moment, when my main sail is fully unreefed and pulled reasonably tight at the peak, the boom still scrapes the wooden support block on the coach roof when at rest, so doesn't seem right.
I've got the chance to improve with new sails. Any advice or thoughts about this appreciated !!