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Back stay boom supporter broke - now what?

6K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  blutoyz 
#1 ·
I don't have a topping lift that comes down from the mast, but I did have a roughly 4 foot long wire attached to the back stay that clipped on the end of the boom to support it when raising/lowering mainsail and when reefing (while pointed close to the wind).

It broke.

My boom isn't very heavy or long, and pretty easy to manage, rest on my shoulder etc...

Any reason why I should hurry up and fix it? Any problem with the boom resting on the cabin top, "bending" down at the goose neck? I notice that a lot of boats at the marina with much larger booms leave their boom resting way down and to the side. No topping lift or anything.... When I am done sailing for the day I use the main halyard to support the boom by clipping it to the end of the boom.

A proper topping lift from the mast does seem like it would be useful when reefing while not pointing into the wind I must admit.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
Any reason why I should hurry up and fix it?
You should at least find a way to stow the boom securely, would not like to have flopping lose.

Any problem with the boom resting on the cabin top, "bending" down at the goose neck?
If our goose neck is pivoting that far down it's not a problem.
If it is bending it is not good..

A proper topping lift from the mast does seem like it would be useful when reefing while not pointing into the wind I must admit.

Thanks!
When I'm putting in a reef I'm never pointing into the wind and I would not like to have to lift the boom while putting in the reef.
When I need to put in a reef there is also some waves around that would make it into a juggling act (lowering the main, pulling in the reef while holding the boom clear of deck)
So I prefer a proper topping lift :)
 
#5 ·
Well, without going up the mast... you could consider a boom-kicker, or a rigid vang.

Without a kicker or a top lift (or that pigtail), for when you are docked, and need the boom lifted, you can use the halyard, attached sufficiently far back on the boom.. obviously this would be AFTER you've flaked the main. But as long as your goose pivots far enough it's really not a deal breaker.

I've got a topping lift, and others are right, they are handy for reefing, and for when you drop sail... but pretty much the entire rest of the time it's a PITA. It's constantly interfering with the leech, and, messes with my ability to check flow off the main. I know the kickers dont' fully support the boom and all, but I think I'd prefer it since it's pretty much set it and forget it.
 
#6 ·
I hate those pigtails. I almost consider you lucky to no longer have it.

Make a very light topping lift out of dyneema. It will blow out of the way of the sail when sailing and it keeps the boom high and out of the way when you aren't. You can easily make it adjustable by making it about 2' shorter than the leech, putting a lightweight block at the lower end, and running line from the boom, up to the block, and back down to the boom. If you make a fixed one you want it to be a couple of inches longer than your main's leech.

I've made two of these. I used 1/8" dyneema with a tiny Harken carbo-block on one, and 2mm dyneema with a heavier block on the other. The 1/8" one works better and that size dyneema is a lot easier to splice.

You'll need to climb the mast (or drop it) for installation. If the Kent Ranger 24 has a mast tabernacle and you've never dropped the mast then I'd recommend that approach. It'll give you a chance to carefully inspect all standing rigging, inspect sheaves, inspect and replace mast wiring, and take care of other business.
 
#7 ·
I somewhat agree with Alex that those backstay pigtails don't do a whole lot except add add stress and strain on your backstay. The reality is that you can't even use them effectively when you are reefing. I would suggest that a rigid vang is an unnecessary expense. On small boats, the boom is often stored by being hung from the main halyard once the sail is dropped which does double duty in keeping the main halyard from beating up the mast. If yoy feel that you want a permanent topping lift, which does make reefing much easier, you should be able to get by rigging one with 1/4" or 5/16" double braid dacron with a thimble tied in to make a small tackle. That should be way cheaper than the dynema and block (which is a lovely way to go if performance is important) and all that you should need.

Jeff
 
#8 ·
You could get something like a shroud cleat, put it high enough on the back stay to hold the boom up out of the way and attach a bungy to it. Once the main is raised you can detach the bungy and re-attach it to a point on the stern rail if you have one. I've sailed some J-24's that did it this way. I think they cut one hook off the bungy and tied that end to the cleat and kept the hook end for the boom.

Barton Marine Shroud Cleat with Shackle Eye | Bosun Bobs.com
 
#9 ·
I also feel that the pigtail can be unsafe. If you forget to release it when sailing then you can be in a tough situation when you try to trim for a beam reach and find that the boom isn't moving anywhere. Trying to clip the pigtail in before dropping the main can also be a harrowing experience in 20mph or higher winds.

Double braid is quite a bit cheaper, but when you are talking about the difference between $11 (30' of Samson LS) and $15 (30' of 1/8" Samson AS-78) it hardly seems important. The choice of a block ($15) or thimble ($2?) is independent, and I do like the thimble as an inexpensive and light solution. The dyneema solution will require splicing, but 12-strand eye splices are very easy to learn.
 
#12 ·
I almost never head up to reef on. Flogging the sails just puts unnecessary wear and tear on the sails and rigging.

My boat has a two line reefing system with all lines run back to the cockpit. Reefing is pretty easy on almost all points except essentially dead downwind, where there is a lot of friction. The way that works is that I have my main halyard marked for the reef and slack it to the mark. There is a 2:1 downhaul on the dogbone on each tack cringles for the reefs and that line can ususally be tensioned without a winch, and sets up the luff tension. The reef clew lines usually go slack and be mostly tensioned with hand tension, and only the last 6-8 feet ground out on the winch. Its surprisingly fast.

I personally consider it critical to safety to be able to reef on the fly. There are times when you are overcanvased at deep angles that it will be tough on the boat and all aboard to head up before you reef.
 
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#13 ·
We most often seem to need to reef while beating anyway, so we set up to continue to sail closehauled on the jib alone and reef the main with way on, much as Jeff describes. Head-to-wind means running the engine, or risking stalling/going into irons/basically losing control of where the boat's going to go, generally at a time when that's a bad idea...
 
#14 ·
Everyone seems to have covered the water front for you, but one issue has been left out. Have you inspected the back stay where the pig tail was attached? After I purchased my boat I decided to replace the standing rigging and when I took off the clamp for the pigtail on back stay I found considerabloe corrosion and two broken strands. (Even the surveyor missed that one).
So I put in a static vinyl coverd wire from the mast head and rigged a 1/4 line from the aft end of the boom through a turning block to a cleat on the forward end of the boom. While this works, I hate it and would consider spending money for a boomkicker.
John
 
#20 ·
Sorry, about the 'dogbone' slang. Dogbones are the strops with D rings on each side and which pass through the reef cringles. A lot of mainsails have these when there are ram hooks for reefing on the boom. I have a line which starts below the gooseneck, runs through a shackle on it's side of the gooseneck, through the D ring, back through a guide shackle on the other side of the boom, down to the deck and back to a halyard lock at the cockpit.

This effectively acts as a low mechanical advantage cunningham. There is not much load on the luff except at the very end of tensioning the luff. On my 38 footer with a roughly 400 s.f. mainsail, I have been able to reef on a deep reach in winds approaching 30 knots without using a winch. I ultimately adjust the final luff tension with the halyard after 'two-blocking' the tack. If I had a bigger boat, I would probably rig something like a 4:1 or 6:1 cunningham tackle for each reef to still be able to reef easily.

Jeff
 
#16 ·
You can easily have the main not under load while the jib is under load if you release the main sheet and keep the jib sheet tight.

We reef under sail doing that or by going hove-to (which also has the main pretty lightly loaded to avoid driving the boat off of it).
 
#17 ·
Matthew: Please share back on this thread (and maybe some of your others?) on how you do resolve the issue. That is a lot more helpful for people who find the thread via a search and is good for curious mind who wonder what you did.

thanks,
alex
 
#18 ·
ccriders - John
That thought had occurred to me as well, if the pigtail went, what's the backstay look like?

Although one of the reasons the pigtails are frowned on, is because they get abused if you forget to unclip them and get into a nasty jibe/winshift. A great way to remove a backstay.

Only 1 vote for a boomkicker besides me... Since I've not owned one, maybe they are more hassle then they are worth. My top lift is heavy 5/16... way bigger than it needs to be. 1/4 or smaller maybe I'd like it more.
 
#19 ·
Only 1 vote for a boomkicker besides me... Since I've not owned one, maybe they are more hassle then they are worth. My top lift is heavy 5/16... way bigger than it needs to be. 1/4 or smaller maybe I'd like it more.
I'd vote for a rigid vang/boom kicker too but it appeared that budget was going to be an issue. The f/g rod 'boomkicker' is about as trouble free as you can get - but suggest using the main halyard as a temporary TL because there's no real solid rigidity in support of the boom from the kicker itself if you fell against it.

btw a 'heavy' topping lift can have the advantage of being a spare main halyard if it's run through to the deck and not 'fixed'.
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the great thread...I was out in a blow on Monday and the topping lift was a PIA to connect up to drop the main. I do believe one of these bookickers are on the short list now
 
#23 ·
A topping lift doesn't need to ever be disconnected. You just loosen it if you want your boom a little lower. That's why it's so much better than the pigtail off the backstay.

I'm not saying that a boomkicker isn't a good thing - just that your comment makes it sound like you may be misuing your topping lift.
 
#24 ·
95% of the time a topping lift doesn't need to be adjusted.

If it is just longer than the leech and light enough it will do the job without adjustment. When you raise sail the leech will slightly lift the boom and detension the topping lift, letting it blow out of the way. When you lower the sail the boom will drop a couple of inches until the topping lift does it's just.

I only have an adjustable topping lift because the Salish Sea has a lot of light air and I will tension the topping lift to avoid closing the mainsail leech when sailing in very light winds. I adjust it about once every 10 sailing days.
 
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