Selden gas strut

[billyfish]

Just read a load of stuff about these, so took mine apart. Its not there, doesn't seam to make any difference to my life, but then I've never had one before, as long as its used as a kicker what's the advantages of having it pushing the boom up ?

 

[sailorbenji]

You can do away with the topping lift, basically.

 

[johnalison]

I had to use my topping lift to go up the mast when my main halyard’s mousing line jammed last week. I’d have had to drop the mast otherwise. I can appreciate the usefulness of having the boom support itself but never got around to having my Selden strut upgraded.

 

[Martin_J]

I wouldn't "do away" with the topping lift, but having a gas strut supporting the boom does allow you to do away with having to "use" the topping lift.

 

[sailorbenji]

OK, some taking comment a bit literally. I would't pull the topping lift out of the mast, but you don't need to actively use it. That said, I have been on a boat where the gas strut failed, so nowadays still connect a topping lift when the sail is stowed on the boom.

 

[Neeves]

Our cat came without a topping lift (and no gas strut either) - the lazy jacks were the topping lift. The mast was built with a spare sheave, presumably for a topping lift. We added a topping lift - so essential when you reef.

Jonathan

 

[dankilb]

You can fit one for a fair bit less than the Selden price using an SGS Engineering strut (apparently they know what to recommend and do stainless ones), the end parts from Selden (unless you can be bothered to fabricate alternatives) and a length of ali tube. If you look at their kit, that’s all it is.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

Tensioning the mainsheet against the topping lift, when the sail is stored, helps stop the boom swing around.
In turn this reduces the wear on the goose neck fitting, which is often a SS pin into an aluminum casing.
I've seen, and had, old boats where the SS pin has worn the Aluminum casting oval, to the point where it cracks. That can be difficult to replace or repair.
The gas strut, lets you forget about the Topping lift when you are sailing, just leave the topping lift with bit of slack in it, the gas struct will then keep the boom at an appropriate height, and accommodate reefing, and adjusting the leach tension with the kicking strap.

 

[dunedin]

We have rod kicker and no topping lift, but move the main halyard to the end of the boom overnight to help support the boom - and avoid any noise of halyards tapping against the mast.

 

[cpedw]

Consider a Barton Boomstrut instead of a rod kicker. Probably cheaper, though perhaps not if you're just supplying the gas strut.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I don’t have a gas strut but I can see an advantage in having one as the roach on my fully battened mainsail fouls the topping lift when tacking (or motoring in a calm with the sail up).

 

[johnalison]

Tensioning the mainsheet against the topping lift, when the sail is stored, helps stop the boom swing around.
In turn this reduces the wear on the goose neck fitting, which is often a SS pin into an aluminum casing.
I've seen, and had, old boats where the SS pin has worn the Aluminum casting oval, to the point where it cracks. That can be difficult to replace or repair.
The gas strut, lets you forget about the Topping lift when you are sailing, just leave the topping lift with bit of slack in it, the gas struct will then keep the boom at an appropriate height, and accommodate reefing, and adjusting the leach tension with the kicking strap.

You could tension the sheet against the strut equally well, as I sometimes do. My strut is set to a length that will prevent the boom from contacting my spray hood when open. One problem with tensioning against the topping-lift can be that a hum is generated in some winds which can be hard to trace until one learns the source, so I generally tension against the main halyard which is wire and doesn’t hum. Using a topping-lift when reefing protects the leach of the sail from being stretched, though my strut can serve the same purpose almost as well.

 

[Aja]

You could tension the sheet against the strut equally well, as I sometimes do. My strut is set to a length that will prevent the boom from contacting my spray hood when open. One problem with tensioning against the topping-lift can be that a hum is generated in some winds which can be hard to trace until one learns the source, so I generally tension against the main halyard which is wire and doesn’t hum. Using a topping-lift when reefing protects the leach of the sail from being stretched, though my strut can serve the same purpose almost as well.

Interesting that going back to the days of wire main halyards that they didn't hum.

(I know that wire halyards are 'old' technology but still relevant in their use today!)

Can the same be said of spectra/dyneema halyards in the same situation?

 

[flaming]

Interesting that going back to the days of wire main halyards that they didn't hum.

(I know that wire halyards are 'old' technology but still relevant in their use today!)

Can the same be said of spectra/dyneema halyards in the same situation?

Depends…

I haven’t sailed with a topping lift - racing or cruising - for nearly 20 years now. Haven’t missed one at any point. All it used to do on the last boat that had one was chafe the leach of the main. The rigid kicker did all the work.

Would echo the advice to look at the Barton boomstrut. That’s what I have and it works extremely well.

 

[johnalison]

Interesting that going back to the days of wire main halyards that they didn't hum.

(I know that wire halyards are 'old' technology but still relevant in their use today!)

Can the same be said of spectra/dyneema halyards in the same situation?

My current wire halyard is brand new this year. It replaced an old wire one but the trouble with replacing it with Dyneema was that I couldn’t be sure that the sheave had not worn during the last 23 years, which would have damaged any Dyneema or involved a major encounter with the riggers to replace the sheave. I am happy with wire even if I have missed the chance to modernise.