com pac Horizon cat 20'

[Horizon43]

Looking for right way to place the boom to their mast for sailing. Have read to lift it just above the mast tender. It is a Gaff rigged sail.Have only had it for a few outings and not used to sailing a boat of it's nature. Just had all new rigging installed adding a new track for the slugs on the sail.With a new Gaff fitting that is longer than original. Have searched for detailed images online, but not found one showing up close information.

[alsantini]

First off, this should have been posted to the Horizon section.  But,  you must pull up the sail and boom until the boom is above the hinge.  There should be a long pin that you will push into two holes on either side of the hinge (just above the hinge).  This puts the sail and boom in the "sailing" position.  This is sometimes difficult with a newer stiff sail pulling it up into position.  An alternate method is to use the halyards and pull up the sail until the boom clears the hinge and pin it.  Don't forget that the sail and boom MUST be below the hinge to lower the mast.  Sail On  AL

[Sillie Millie]

In addition to @alsantini's excellent message, do yourself a favor and lubricate your mast track and sail slugs with light duty "Corrosion X". It's an aerospace lubricant (not inexpensive $30) that will make raising and lowering your sail a whole lot easier.  I had difficulty with a new setup on my 23 y/o Horizon. You might also consider installing a downhaul on the gaff gooseneck. I read about that somewhere and the gent said it saved his marriage.

[bruce]

You can use the long pin to hold the boom gooseneck above the hinge but it was never intended for that. Its purpose was to make sure the goosenecks and slugs were below the hinge before lowering the mast. The luff is tensioned by the throat halyard and the boom downhaul. The boom can be at, or somewhat above or below the hinge, as you desire. A slack luff, if you manually raised the boom gooseneck to get the long pin in for example, would never be optimal.

All of the Com-Pac catboats are slow to drop sail. I use a bungee as a gaff downhaul on my PC, but ideally crew is available at the mast to help the sail down. All lube is helpful, and the light duty sprays are great for the slugs, but you also have long SS gooseneck slides in the same aluminum track that benefit from a heavier lube. Com-Pac delivered the boats with a substantial grease in the track.