Just temporary, but it should hold

[CalebD]

I will chime in to agree with the others who have posted so far.
My 1967 Tartan 27' has a very similar setup and was originally designed with a roller reefing boom that you could wrap the main sail around, hence the main sheet and topping lift hardware had to be able to accommodate a boom that rotated. This is why the end fitting on your boom is able to spin freely allowing the main sail to be poorly reefed. We now use slab or jiffy reefing. We also have the Dutchman flaking system on our main sail which, as others have noted, has nothing to do with the end of the boom.

I have attached a pic of the metal ring that slides around the end of our boom (yes, end boom sheeting) and we get similar wear on the fitting that I see in your photos. Another photo shows the end of our boom and the channel the ring slides in. The last photo shows the end of the boom rigged and under sail.

I think that scottyt is on the money and the idea of boom bails are a good way to go (one on top and one on the bottom) in case my end boom ring fails as yours has. I would also investigate using some other fittings as well but a boom bail is adequate for use in a boom vang and should be fine for use with the main sheet and topping lift.

Now that one of your two attachment points has failed on that end boom fitting I would be a bit worried that the other will fail in time as well. Of course this will happen at the worst possible time. There is wear showing in the remaining attachment point in you photos. It is possible to have a metal shop fabricate a replacement piece for you but I have no idea what that might cost.

Your temporary fix is just that and it will hold but for how long? I happen to like scottyt's boom bail idea as it is cheap, quick and easy to implement.

Best of luck.

[71Irwin32]

Originally Posted by scottyt

okay i will wait but i still think i am right. but we shall see. off to do some more googling.

but you boat could have a boom stay, which is similar to a preventer, as it locks the boom in place to prevent jibs

edit from what i have found so far you boat did come with geared roller furlering main

i will keep looking

I'll check and see if there's a roller pivot on the front of the boom, but what I ment, was the top ring as near as I can tell was/is for this piece attached to the aft stay (below)...





With this shackle in place the boom cannot move...battend down in the slip, I guess.

The line holding the boom up when the sail is down or, the line attaching the dutchman/lazy jacks is on the other swivel on the outhaul cap (below)



I'll look at the "bail" idea, but I don't like the idea of drilling any holes in the boom and staying more original is appealing....I'll still look to see if the front of the boom has a pivot for rotation.

[71Irwin32]

Ok, I went topside (30 degree night) and it does appear to have been able to rotate.

[CalebD]

71Irwine32 - Dude,

I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that your rig has been Gerry-rigged long before you got to it. Before that connection broke on your end boom fitting your boom was held up by a 'topping lift' which was originally connected to the broken fitting and then transferred to the out haul fitting or 'becket' (a loop for connecting other rigging to it). The 'becket' or loop that your 'topping lift' is now connected to (the line that holds up the boom) most likely had a block connected to it as part of the 'out haul' mechanism which helps to stretch the main sail back along the boom and is used to 'flatten' the sail.
If you look closely at the last pic I posted you can see that the main sheet on my boat connects to one of the connection points and you can't see that our 'topping lift' (that lifts the boom up and has the Dutchmen lines connected to it) is actually connected to the other other (top) connection point on the rotating piece on the end of our boom.
I have the same abrasion issues with this piece as you do only mine is older and not broken (yet). We have repaired this piece of hardware twice so far and it keeps on wearing each season.
Wish I had your weather as it is cold in NYC. 30 degrees would be warmer then what we've got.
Enjoy.

[deniseO30]

Yes the shackle dangling from the back stay is for hanging the boom smaller boats without topping lifts have them quite often. More then a few people new to sailing think the boom is supposed to be there when sailing, bad bad thing to do! And Yes, you have a roller boom. Yes you can drill holes through the side for boom bail/s at the end of the boom you won't loose any mid boom strength. Also ,getting rid of broken swivel plate is good because it's dangerous. The line wrapped on the spud, is that the out haul for the sail? The line holding the sail up is called a "topping lift" and it may be fixed or run up the top and down the mast. some are run inside the boom too. That should be loose when you are sailing, it is only needed for lifting the boom for reefing or to get headroom while at anchor.

[71Irwin32]

Originally Posted by CalebD

71Irwine32 - Dude,

I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that your rig has been Gerry-rigged long before you got to it. Before that connection broke on your end boom fitting your boom was held up by a 'topping lift' which was originally connected to the broken fitting and then transferred to the out haul fitting or 'becket' (a loop for connecting other rigging to it). The 'becket' or loop that your 'topping lift' is now connected to......

After looking and reading all this, I think this is correct.

Originally Posted by deniseO30

Yes the shackle dangling from the back stay is for hanging the boom .....

Yes, probably both.

[scottyt]

does you boat have a SSB radio, as i see an insulator? if it does they might have added a second topping lift to isolate the back stay for the SSB. or they added the second topping lift for the dutchman system ( more likely ). or possibly a combination of both reasons. or the second "topping" lift on the back stay may just be there to steady the boom when not sailing.

as for "fixing" it, gatting a new piece made for the back of the boom would not be too expensive. or just a thick strap that uses the pivot bolt as an attachment bolt and has a hole for the mainsheet block on the bottom would work too

[knothead]

I hate to disagree with everybody, but I don't think that this is one of the roller booms. I believe that all those were round.
The cast piece on the end of the boom fitting is just a pretty standard way of attaching your sheet and topping lift. Often they are just a stainless strap. The broken cast piece could easily be replaced.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by knothead

I hate to disagree with everybody, but I don't think that this is one of the roller booms. I believe that all those were round.....

Most, but not all. We had a Viking 28 that came with the original gooseneck "gear works" c/w handle,(still functional) and, as you stated, a SS strap to connect the Mainsheet and topping lift on a single point swivel at the end of the boom but with a regular oval/elliptical boom section.

If Irwin's boom is simply free to swivel that's one thing.. if there is a gear/handle assembly at the gooseneck then it most certainly was originally roller reefing to begin with.

[Danny33]

Where's the dog on a case like this ?