kickers?

silverdawn

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30 Jan 2005
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On my previous two grp boats i always used the kickers for sail control, i now have a wooden boat with 12ft boom no kicker , also the traveller is mounted on a metal support rear of cockpit with no intermediate stops for control.
sailing downwind the boom bounces about , and when tacking or gybing the traveller can slide across violently i do control this but would like a sytem which is more easy to control, is this set up the norm for wooden boats , do i need a kicker ? or
do i need to learn new skills.
your views please.
 
ignore the Merchant Bankers /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

a kicker ( vang ) should be very easy to retro-fit.if possible i would suggest a solid vang / gas strut ,i have a solid strut ( no gas strut )+ 12 part tackle.
check-out manufacturers harken, selden , barton ect.
the arrangement that your mansheet is attatched to is called a "Horse" very common a few yrs ago but not really generally used in production AWBs. it ought to be possible to affix control lines to this mainsheet slider & horse
 
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ignore the Merchant Bankers /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif



[/ QUOTE ]

I am not a Merchant Banker... I am an underwriter (and my office is on the TV right now!)
 
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Apologies /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
you looked like a Banker from here /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
it ought to be possible to affix control lines to this mainsheet slider & horse

[/ QUOTE ] Sometimes it works

bloomersPDM.jpg
 
It should be no problem to fit a boomvang (kicker). I would think a simple three part purchase or four part purchase with a snap shackle at each end would be fine; that's a single block and a double block or two double blocks. One end clipped onto the boom, the other to a strong point at the base of the mast. Try to get 45 degrees between the two points. The advantage of this simple system is that when running downwind you can unclip the vang from the base of the mast and attach it at the toerail which will allow you to pull the boom down more effectively and it will also act as a preventer. The tail of the vang runs back to the cockpit to be made fast.
Regarding the main sheet running on a horse; you need to have adjustable stops on the horse to trap the mainsheet block where you want it, or replace the horse with a mainsheet runnning from the end of the boom to a block at one quarter, back to the boom and then off to the other quarter with a cleat to make the tail fast. Or add a mainsheet track if you want to spend more money and have more control.
 
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