wierd rigging

[happyfish]

Could someone tell me what the horse shoe shaped thing on the end of my boom is?

I have purchased a new boat and on the boom at the end there is a horse shoe shaped thing with little wheels attached to it and has one piece of rope attached with a shackle.
I am thinking it is some kind of kicking strap. Whether it is or not I have no idea how it works. Please enlighten me


<hr width=100% size=1>Sunset smells of Dinner I Must end my tales see you the next quiet place
I furl my sails

 

[halcyon]

Had one on the Hurley for the main sheet, it had roller boom reefing, it allowed the boom to revolve in the horse shoe.
Main use I found for it was swearing at everytime we tried to reef, you looked back from the mast and found it disapearing into the sail. Though I think a oval boom did not help, soon converted to slab reefing.

Brian

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[freebird1]

It's a reefing claw, needed for a boom roller reefing system. I have one for the kicking strap, with a 4mm rope between it and the clew end of the boom, which has a stainless steel strip on it bolted in to the back end of the boom, but allowed to spin freely. The top eye on this plate is connected to the topping lift, and the lower eye to the main sheet block. When you roll the boom the two are supposed to stay put while the boom rolls within. I agree that it is a painful process as something usually fouls as you do it. On top of that, as the leech of the sail is not cut in a straight line from head to clew, the boom starts to sag the further you reef.

The line between the reefing claw and the end of my boom prevents the claw sliding toward the goose neck when you tension the kicking strap. May be this is what your rope is for? I have seen plenty of booms with two claws, one for the kicker and one for main sheet, but they still need to be tethered to the revolving plate on the end of the boom to stop them moving.

The best trick when it actually comes to reefing appears to be to free off the kicker and main sheet, but only just enough to allow some movement. Any more than this will lead to a big twist around the boom.

To put it another way, if my main sail already had reefing eyes in it, i would have converted to slab reefing long ago.

Hope this helps.

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[roger]

My boat came with a roller reefing main like the one you described. One of my first jobs was to convert boom and sail to slab reefing. Barton sell a slab reefing kit. I found that reefing with a roller does horrible things to sail shape.
Frankly its probably best to bite on the bullet and get a new boom with slabbing facilities built in. Unfortunately it will be pricey.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[l'escargot]

one of these

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[l'escargot]

If so, it goes around the boom with the kicking strap attached to the small hole. Also needs a line from the same point to the outhaul so that it sits about 3/4 of the way down the boom to the mast. Allows the mainsail to be wound around the boom for reefing, usually a winding mechanism with a handle at the gooseneck. Much maligned form of reefing as it can be difficult to get a good sail shape, but it is possible by padding the sail as you reef it. Popular in the small cruisers from the 70s and 80's.

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[machurley22]

There's no need for a new boom IMHO, just an add-on slab reefing kit and reefing cringles (?) in your main. Silkie still has the original roller-reefing boom, which still works, but I just don't use it any more.

Dave

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[happyfish]

Thanks all
I Have slab reefing and the boom is not is not a roller boom.
Mabe the last owner used it for something else?

<hr width=100% size=1>Sunset smells of Dinner I Must end my tales see you the next quiet place
I furl my sails

 

[Strathglass]

As you have slab reefing, perhaps the previous owner used it as a mainsheet take off or it may have been used as part of a preventer system to prevent the main from gybing.

Iain

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[roger]

Replacement boom

I take your point and thats what I did when I first acquired Badger. However I bought a new longer boom, partly to avoid decapitation by the mainsheet during a gybe.
The new boom with internal fittings (two line) was much easier to reef and it allowed me to fit a small winch to ensure that the reefing lines and outhall could be tightened easily.
The internal cleats for the reefing lines are also much neater and cause less trouble than the add on ones I'd fitted before.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger