lw395
Well-Known Member
It will give the midges somewhere to shelter from the rain.
Recutting main to raise boom height- advice and likely costs?
- Thread starter Kelpie
- Start date
It will give the midges somewhere to shelter from the rain.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
We think it might be necessary for pale skinned Sgitheanachan travelling further south.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
I don't have a bimini but I do have a windscreen with sprayhood. A failure of a topping-lift or perhaps main halyard could be very expensive for me.
RJJ
Well-Known Member
I think sub-£100 is reasonable. Two operations: install a new cringle plus appropriate reinforcements; trim the unneeded cloth along the foot. Please do keep me posted: our boom already hits the sprayhood when the boom is centrelined and mainsheet very tight, close-hauled in flat water, and I am considering doing the same.
You don't need to do step two if you can live with a bit of flappy cloth; you could always tension it using the old cringle.
I don't reckon (as an avid user of the traveller) the mainsheet length/traveller is an issue unless your traveller is very short, like you regularly run out of length today. 4 inches up equates to max an inch of length on the traveller, in terms o locus of travel of the boom.
Will you also want to raise the height of your reefing points at the leech?
You don't need to do step two if you can live with a bit of flappy cloth; you could always tension it using the old cringle.
I don't reckon (as an avid user of the traveller) the mainsheet length/traveller is an issue unless your traveller is very short, like you regularly run out of length today. 4 inches up equates to max an inch of length on the traveller, in terms o locus of travel of the boom.
Will you also want to raise the height of your reefing points at the leech?
Pavalijo
Well-Known Member
We are in the Spanish Rias (second year here - don’t rush past) and heading to the Algarve next year where we will be getting a Bimini installed.
We perhaps have just enough room under the boom, but my intention is to have a Bimini that finishes just behind the boom to create shade in the aft end of the cockpit - with a link between Bimini and sprayhood that can be attached in port (lifting the boom a little higher with the vang strut/topping lift).
In that way we will have shade when sailing whilst still being able to look up and realise that we need to read more about sail trim!!
We perhaps have just enough room under the boom, but my intention is to have a Bimini that finishes just behind the boom to create shade in the aft end of the cockpit - with a link between Bimini and sprayhood that can be attached in port (lifting the boom a little higher with the vang strut/topping lift).
In that way we will have shade when sailing whilst still being able to look up and realise that we need to read more about sail trim!!
laika
Well-Known Member
My set-up is not necessarily typical in that I have a centre cockpit with the mainsheet attachment towards the back of the boom, meaning the extra sheet length from the "high cut" is more than it would be for a sheet forward of the steering position. It's on the aft deck so *proportionally* the sheet length is increased much more than it would be compared with an across-the-cockpit-sole traveller in an aft cockpit racing boat. And yes, it's not all that long but that wasn't such an issue until the "high cut" because the sheet length was relatively short
So whilst there are many boats on which the problem I have acquired from having a main cut to lift the boom higher, I can assure you this is most definitely is a problem on my boat.
RJJ
Well-Known Member
Still doesn't make sense to me.
The leech tension hasn't changed; the leech tension runs from the head, to the boom, through the sheet to the traveller car. Say you start with the traveller up and boom bang-on-centre. You lengthen the mainsheet by four inches and shorten the leech by four inches, keeping same tension and same traveller position. Yes, the boom might now be a smidge off-centre, but only to the extent it's now sitting a bit higher up the leech and following the original twist. The leech position can't have changed; your sail setting is still the same as it was.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
As Laika suggests, it does not work like that in practice. When I reef, my boom sits higher & I have to move the traveller a lot higher to get the boom anywhere near centre ( If I did actually want that, which I don't), otherwise it just puts enormous tension on the leech
RJJ
Well-Known Member
When you reef it's a different topic and depends on the cut of your sail. We're talking about raising the clew cringle a few inches, and lengthening the mainsheet, all other things being equal.
laika
Well-Known Member
You may have missed the implication in my previous post that the clew of my main is lifted more than "a few inches". This is more than the OP proposes. You are right to point out that a few cm shouldn't be a problem on many boats. You are wrong to say that a larger lift isn't a problem on my boat.
RJJ
Well-Known Member
I was talking about the post and a few cms. Didn't twig you were talking about something different.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
No!, one is talking about how far one has to move the traveller to get the boom to the same place ie to the centre. The reason I mentioned the reef because that raises the boom a bit. I am not concerned about the cut of the sail in this instance, other than it raises the boom & gives one the practical comparison; and this provides the evidence. I was only trying to demonstrate the flaw( as I perceive it) in your comment. That is why I bracketed that I did not actually want to bring the boom to the centre when reefed.
But you are perfectly free to disagree, if you wish.
oldmanofthehills
Well-Known Member
I am doing just that on our LM27 as end of boom droops too much when roller reefing. Normal roller reefing type issue but in bad weather I think sticking with roller quicker safer than slab as need to go to mast anyway.
Removing 8 inches 20cm from leech and my sail maker said £90 on top of some repairs. Loss of sail area trivial and also enables me to sail part reefed with cockpit hood up.
Removing 8 inches 20cm from leech and my sail maker said £90 on top of some repairs. Loss of sail area trivial and also enables me to sail part reefed with cockpit hood up.
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lw395
Well-Known Member
I've not sailed with roller reefing for some years.
Back in the old days, wooden booms for roller reefing might be tapered, fatter aft to raise the clew when reefed.
With a metal boom, you can add some foam pipe insulation to lift the clew.
oldmanofthehills
Well-Known Member
Indeed you can, but having tried that and added sailing pullovers etc its not that effective and you don't want to faff with it all while boat wallows like a pig in troubled seas and boom threatens to brain you. Better by far to have seamanlike work done on sail in the comfort of a sail-loft.
Incidentally both our boats have cringles added for No 2 slab reef if roller reefing jambs and on balance I still prefer roller reef at sea in most circumstances.
dunedin
Well-Known Member
With your roller reefing main, adding permanently to the boom tapered wooden strips (widest at the back, narrowing to the front) was the traditional proper solution back in the day. No loss of sail area. No“faff” , indeed nothing at all extra to do when reefing. Effective and seamanlike.
Perhaps your sail maker is too young to remember how this type of boom reefing worked ;-)
lw395
Well-Known Member
Probably too young to remember the sorts of sailcloth it worked adequately with?
oldmanofthehills
Well-Known Member
My sailmaker is even older than I and may well remember such a fussy solution. I have never had or wanted wooden booms, masts or hulls; I want to sail not own a museum piece however pretty. I cant say I particularly favour the thickening tapered actual wooden booms in the old style if another solution available, it increases marginally danger from collision with skull, increases load in accidental gybe etc
Adding tapered wooden strips to an aluminium boom is a faff. Who would make them up and at what cost, how would I attach them etc? I am more than happy to lose a small amount of mainsail area as I have weather helm and I also don't really care if the mainsheet is thus a bit longer and thus boat very marginally less able to point high, as she will never be close winded whatever.
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