Suncat long pin

[CaptRon28]

I'll add my 2 cents concerning the long pin, at least how it works on my Horizon.

If the mast is staying up with the boat tied off at a dock, I tend to leave the long pin in with the boom's gooseneck held permanently above the pin. I do this only to increase the headroom under the boom.

Sailing off of the trailer, I will usually lift the boom, gaf and sail above the pin holes and pin it there immediately after I raise the mast. Main reason is that there is a lot less weight to lift when I raise the sail a few minutes later. The Horizon's boom, sail and gaf are substantially heavier than the Sun cats. Better to get this set of slides above the hinge. In either case I obviously have to pull the pin to lower the boom and gaf before I lower the mast.

Here's one major difference in the 2 boats - with the throat halyard pulled as high up as possible, the boom's gooseneck is a few inches higher than the pin, so I can use the downhaul to tension the sails luff. It winds up an inch or two above the pin.

[tmolik]

Does anyone have a picture of the long pin in and out of the connecting pieces....everyone has talked about it...but either i have it and don't know it...or just don't have it...

I have a 2001 SunCat

Thanks
Tom       tmolik@earthlink.net

[capt_nemo]

tmolik,

If you don't see a removable "Long Pin" going through two holes, one at the top of each aft side of the lower hinge assembly, or a "Long Pin" nearby hanging loose from the side of the mast on a short lanyard, THEN YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!

That said, considering the designed purpose of the "Long Pin", you need to replace it with a stainless rod (or bolt) of suitable length to pass through the two opposing holes mentioned above. One end should be larger to keep it from moving completely through and the other end should stick out of the other hole enough so that it is not likely to work its way out.

If you are not inclined to find a suitable replacement yourself, call the factory and have them send you one.

capt_nemo

[tmolik]

Capt...thanks for the info...

I went to ComPac's office and purchased the Long Pin....the owners are great people...

Tom

[Craig]

Odduck, glad the boomkicker has worked well for you too. I put one on Suncat(Cattitude) and when we moved to Horizon Cat(Kailani), had one installed on it. As far as we are concerned they are the best thing since sliced bread. In addition to keeping the boom supported when raising and lowering sail(with no extra lines to adjust ala lazy jacks) the boomkicker also allows the bimini to be deployed with the sail lowered. It also stabilizes the boom under "ghosting" conditions to reduce slatting as well as adding a little fullness to the sail. As the wind pipes up the fullness goes away because the wind pressure overpowers the "springiness" of the boomkicker as the sheets tighten. Not cheap, but worth it to us(the Admiral & I) in terms of safety and convenience especially if singlehanding or when we have quests aboard. By the way Tom Ray has a great set of pix on installing a boomkicker on a Suncat on his Tropical Boating website. Re the long pin, Captain Nemo is right on.  The system is very well designed and works well as is. By the by, many fixed gooseneck boats have a winch to adjust the luff tension for the reasons discussed earlier. Kailani has two and we basically pre-tension the luff downhaul and work against that using the winch if more tension is(rarely)needed. We also have a Mack Pack with built in lazy jacks. With the Boomkicker supporting the boom they never need to be adjusted since they can be left loose enough that the sail and gaff are contained while not affecting the set of the sail.