Biminis & Raising the Mizzen

[Sail2Freedom]

I have a 53' Bollard ketch and have recently fitted a bimini, and wishing to leave this in place whilst cruising, I will have to raise my mizzen boom by around 12 inches. I currently have a rope-pulley boom-vang and was wondering what others may have done to change the vang. My Bimini starts at the Mizzen mast and goes to the stern, covering the stern cockpit.

[christyleigh]

I don't have an answer for you but I just thought I'd add that I am going through the same problem on a smaller scale. As you can see by my avatar I have similar issues. I am also raising my mizzen boom 12 inches for one to keep it from killing me and another to also add a bimini that is under construction now. I never had a vang but with my much smaller scale I'll be rigging some kind of multi-point attachment involving my very beefy rails for off wind work to keep the boom down.

[Sail2Freedom]

Stan
Thanks for your input. I have been talking to some rigging guys, and have found that vang angles need to be between 30 and 45 degrees. From this I can determine how far I have to lift my mizzen boom to achieve a 30 degree angle. However my knowledge of vangs is limited. It is a big learning curve for me. Through Pythagerus maths, I know what height I have to raise my boom, however I still have to find out whether the mizzen mast can support a vang a couple of meters from the base.

[rleslie]

By moving your boom 12", you will loose approx. 4% of your sail area and raise the center of effort. You may want to consider loosing the vang and keeping the mizzen as originally designed. If you are just cruising, the removal of the vang will have little effect on your sailing.