rod kickers or topping lifts

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hotwork5

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I have read the posts on the use for rod kickers and if they are any good
I have just purchased an 11 year old beneteau first 300 which has a sprung sparcraft kicker fitted when new. It is rated at 150Kg.
There is no topping lift. The main has a stack bag and lazy lines
As soon as the halyard is eased the boom end drops, until held up by the the 4 thin lazy lines. 2 of these are going to fail soon
The only way to keep the boom up is to take the halyard to the boom end
Having now got the boat out for re-fit works I have removed the kicker
There is a 4 to one vang purchase but it is very hard to compress the kicker down to fully retracted.
So will it or should it be able to hold up the boom?
In a sailing mag I have been reading this month there are pictures of 3 boats, each with a rod kicker. All the boats' pictures show they have topping lifts
So what is the point of rod kickers??
6 years ago, on a charter boat for practical training we were being show how to scandalise the main using the topping lift. Guess what? The boat had a rod kicker. If we pulled the boom too high the kicker came apart after letting off the vang
So They seem to be a waste of time and money

Night All
navigate 1
 
If your boat isn't a multihull then when sailing downwind and after the traveller is finished you ease the main sheet then the rod kicker keeps the boom down. So the mainsail stays flatter and has more profile to the right angle in the wind.
In the multihull the traveller track is longer and you don't need the rod kicker.
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Rod kickers are great.

Snag is that they need setting up properly; and yours has become 'un setup'.

They contain a spring, and Hooke's Law says that the extension (or compression) of a spring is in direct proportion to the load placed upon it.

Which means:- new boat - bare boom. Sppring is a constant. Attachment point on mast is as low as possible. So to support boom the variable is how far from the mast to secure the fitting on the boom. Answer - at the point where the boom doesn't droop.

Add a mainsail. Need to move the boom attachment forward to compensate.

Add the stackpack, further forward still.

So you neeed to move the boom attachment to a point where the droop is acceptable.

Do you still need a topping lift? Are you racing or do you care about perfect sail trim?

If either is yes, then you do. The boom will now be adequately supported for most of the time, but in light airs you may want to lift the boom to induce twist. That's where the topping lift comes in handy.

Most of us racers leave the t/lift attached to the backstay unless it's needed.
 
Had that with a ZSpars sprung kicker, ZSpars just supplied about a 6 inch piece of sping I put into the rod and reassembled. It worked a treat no droop. Have a word with Sparcraft I'm sure they will sort it.

Just a thought though is it a metal spring or a gas spring (Sparcraft do both) if it's the latter gas spring may simply need replacing.
 
Can confirm if properly set up works perfectly with stack packer main. Its great when reefing as boom goes up rather than crashes down onto heads - as did previously if forgot topping lift
Overnight we hook the main halyard to end of boom to pull even higher.
 
My old Beneteau 35S5 had a defunct gas strut and a topping lift. Having replaced the strut, I find slab reefing a lot easier. The boom is so much easier to support.
 
OK every one
We will work on the various solutions
As the boat is in for re-fit then we will get a topping lift fitted so we can go without the kicker if need be

Navigate 1 listening out
 
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