Boom Brake

[Tim Gardner]

Well,

Some time ago we discussed boom preventers.  Most of us sail 16's & 19's with a few 23's thrown in (apologies to the cat boys especially Tom Morgan, whose boat is a beautiful site to see), my comments are for those Sailors.

Well, I bought ($14.00) and tried out a descender like the kind John Turpin writes about here:[ http://www.wwpotterowners.com/JohnTurpin1.html ].  No photos yet, but last Sunday,  the Commodore (she won't let me call her the REAR Admiral, so I busted her a rank) and I sailed our 19/II out into 15Kt winds that put us 180 from the wind.  We sailed wing on wing with the jib poled out to port, and used the JT descender to control the boom to starboard. 

The Commodore was so pleased we had neither accidental nor goose neck boom lifting jibes, she poured me a glass of red Merlot Grog!

Great application of tech from another sport to make sailing safer!  Thanks to John!

TG

[curtisv]

That does look like a good idea.  I see John has a bail bolted through the boom.  That's the way to install anything holding the boom.

I had an eye strap bolted on the bottom of my boom that I reused as a temporary preventer in light to moderate wind.  It worked for a while but soon looked like it was easing out.  I kept a close eye on it and didn't really trust it.  Sure enough, in light wind the boom came over and bang, off came the eye strap.  The air was light enough that I could put my hand up and stop the boom and throw it back on the side it belonged on, grabbing the four sheets at the boom to make it go back slow.  That is when I bought the boom bail to replace the eye strap on the boom vang.

I just tie a line to the boom bail at this point.  I added a midship cleat quite a while back that doubles as a place to rig the preventer on the sidedeck rather than use a stancion base.  This look like a good use of climbing gear.  Hopefully it won't rust in salt air.  I notice John has his vang on a rather small eye strap which maybe isn't good.  He's got some real nice rope clutches on his halyards and a small boat boomkicker which is also nice to have.

Curtis

[Craig Weis]

My other sailing [U-Tube] buddy, the one who needed Coast Guard help in the cold waters off the Apostle Islands to keep from sinking his 26 foot Seaward sail boat with wife and dog aboard after the anchor chain rolled over board and pulled the balance of the anchor line over board and that wrapped the line around the propeller shaft with the engine running in heavy seas and then the wobbly shaft tour a hole in the hull near the stuffing box resulting in a PAN PAN call...anyway that sailor works at our West Marine Sturgeon Bay store...he could have avoided all this if the anchor chain was vinyl dipped and semi-stiff and could hold it's shape on deck, read, stay on deck.. That guy has been thinking about a BOOM BRAKE for a long time. "Pretty expensive for what it is." he says.

I don't know. For me the Boom Brake is not too attractive. I'll just duck as the boom swings around on my little CP-19 footer. Better yet I'll sail with no unintended jibs. The vang holds the boom down very well and that helps. The $14 device I just watched in the first post seem to work just as well as the WM one, but for much less $$'s. Additionally this set-up may be noisy in the rigging if slacked and "I's hates noise". I don't even like the fuel tank float making noise while I'm sailing. I have the fuel gage float tied down with a plastic zip strip.

"I kept a close eye on it and didn't really trust it.  Sure enough, in light wind the boom came over and bang, off came the eye strap." Right sized hole and STEEL rivets at each boom bail hole ought to hold'er.

skip.

[curtisv]

Skip,

I've had rivets pull out as well as bolts.  The boom bail is a lot stronger than any eye strap.  I've also bent some fairly good size eye straps with the boom vang.

There was a discussion of rivets vs bolts a while back on the yahoo group.  Opinions were on both sides.  SS bolts have to be backed out and coated with anticorrosive to not eat the aluminum.  You can't back out a SS rivet.  Aluminum rivets won't corrode the boom but strength is limited.

As to "no accidental jibe" - there are times when you need to leave the helm.  I was on a 60 mile downwind sail from Block Island to Martha's Vineyard.  I went forward to set the whisker pole and got back in time to catch the jibe but not in time to prevent it from happening.  There is a limit to how long a boat will hold her course downwind with the tiller lashed.  Since I just made a big change to effective sail area on one side, no surprise that the course didn't hold.

At times I've gone in the cabin to get lunch and can back to the cockpit and found the course had held and other time I got a drink and I had done a 180 in less than a minute.  Its at it worst in very light or variable wind.  More steady when wind picks up, but sometime a wave can shove her off course.  Maybe I need an autopilot.

Curtis

[Craig Weis]

Stainless steel is not better then black iron fasteners and the bi-metal [Noble vs Less Noble] metal reactions are killers.
Way back yonder I posted about SS/BI fasteners...from a Boat US source
skip.

[Salty19]

Skip- I'm not following you?  Would you rather have the boom swing over unexpectedly, possibly knocking you overboard,  than use a preventer?   I can see not using it on short tacks, but on longer runs it seems like a no brainer to me?

I'm a very careful sailer and keep my eyes peeled on wind movements constantly as attention will allow.  Even then, I've had the boom come over (on my old 16) enough times during quick wind shifts (common where I sail) to have to grab the boom and shove it back over the other side.  Once I did not see it start to swing and had it come all the way over.  In this case of the 16, that low hanging boom could easily knock you overboard.

My concern mostly is for my crew as they are not watching the wind or the boom.  The boom can swing over faster than I can say "duck!" in shifting winds.

[brackish]

I'm a very careful sailer and keep my eyes peeled on wind movements constantly as attention will allow.  Even then, I've had the boom come over (on my old 16) enough times during quick wind shifts (common where I sail) to have to grab the boom and shove it back over the other side.  Once I did not see it start to swing and had it come all the way over.  In this case of the 16, that low hanging boom could easily knock you overboard.

Has a lot to do with where you sail.  When I sailed the Mississippi Sound almost exclusively, there was no real need.  Wind was always fairly steady for long periods of time with regard to direction and intensity.  I now sail mostly on a relatively small lake with many dozens of finger branches.  You can never depend on the wind to be steady.  Yesterday it was clocking 180 degrees and going from almost nothing to 15 knots.  I think it has to do with the fingers on the lake, it gets channeled and causes that variability.  I had five or six unintentional jibes yesterday, fortunately during relatively light winds.

[Salty19]

Brackish--You're probably correct as usual here. 

Wish I could depend on consistent winds, but similar to where you sail now, it's not something you can predict.  Only react to or be prepared for.  Rarely is there much time to react when it happens nor are there warning signs except watching other sailers nearby.

I've been considering mid-boom sheeting, but since I haven't even sailed the new 19 yet, I'll hold off until I give it a run for a year or so.  Thinking perhaps if I do that, the bail could be used for both the mainsheet and preventer.  I would definitely  through bolt the bail.  And use a high quality alumiminum bolt/nut. 

[Craig Weis]

Skip- I'm not following you?  Would you rather have the boom swing over unexpectedly, possibly knocking you overboard,  than use a preventer?

Well kind of. I KNOW the boom can swing over and understanding this I am ever mindful that this will happen if I let it happen. So I'm painfully aware of the boom. Since accidents never happen. You have to let them happen, then I'm not going to allow me to be lulled into a false since of security or well being just because some piece of equipment is going to stop the boom before it strikes me.
What if the damn thing failed?

skip.

[Bob23]

Sometimes one cannot plan on an unexpected wind shift. I'll be adding a boom preventer (or brake) this year to "Koinonia". Not real hard...just some line.
Bob23