Galilee 15' - Need help

[hoodford]

I have a Galilee 15' and she is just lovely although I have one issue which may be my fault or the boats fault. After rigging the whole boat and prepping to go out on a sail, the boom will not stay upright but falls to the deck. What can I do to keep the boom in the 90ish degree position. I thought there should be a line from the end of the boom to the top of the mast- Please assist if you can!

Thanks

[Flybyknight]

It's called a Topping Lift, and should be affixed permanently.
Dick

[nolatom]

The thing is, though, if you've raised the sail all the way up (this is important) and tightened the downhaul and outhaul and it's "falling to the deck", then the trailing edge, or leech, of the sail is too long for whatever reason (stretched out maybe?). Using a topping lift to lift the end of the boom up will give you a slack leech and weird-shaped baggy sail.

So I don' know how to answer your question..a photo would help, along with measurements of the three edges of your mainsail and a line drawing of the boat and mast/boom to compare it with.

[Tim R.]

Hoodford, does the boom drop with the sail raised? If not then the first response is correct. Or, that is a fairly small boat and just letting the boom sit on deck when the sail is not raised should be just fine.

[Flybyknight]

[QUOTE=nolatom;96
Using a topping lift to lift the end of the boom up will give you a slack leech and weird-shaped baggy sail. .[/QUOTE]

With my vang on hard, I still have slack in my Topping Lift, and my new main is a perfect foil.

[nolatom]

I may be misunderstanding things. When does the boom drop to the deck? Does the properly-raised sail, by itself, hold the boom up off the deck?

When sailing, can you sheet in close-hauled and get nice sail shape, and the boom is up around 90 degrees?

the vang is for holding boom end down, typically for downwind sailing. A topping lift holds the boom up when the sail isn't. It needs to be slack enough that the boom can be trimmed fully in, and down, for a beat. If you're able to do all this, then you may noe need a topping lift on a boat that small. Most boats under 20 feet don't have one.

[CalebD]

In the absence of photos, here is the spec for the Galilee 15': GALILEE 15 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

It would be my guess that the sail is a bit stretched out.
Using a topping lift (to lift up the boom) will make the sail draft deeper (baggier) which would be fine in light winds but would be bad in any decent or strong wind.

[Barquito]

The luff rope may have shrunk.

Write-up from RichH:

Shrinking Boltropes .... a 'problem' with aged sails.
Dacron boltropes change shape over time and depending on HOW MANY TIMES they get ‘stretched-out’ ... and they progressively and additively get shorter and fatter. So, if it takes an immense amount of halyard tension to get to the ‘neutral helm’, etc., consider to take your mainsail to a sailmaker to get the boltrope adjusted or ‘eased’. Easing the boltrope will quickly and cost effectively bring an old ‘baggy’, powered-up, draft-aft sail ‘back to life and proper SHAPE’ ... and usually at minimal cost.
Another way to check for a shrunken boltrope: on a windless day, raise the sail to ‘just up’, add the additional 1” / 10-11 ft. of luff length by added halyard tension, then check the angle that the top of the boom makes with the mast at the gooseneck. If that angle is much greater than 90 degrees ... say 95 to 100 degrees, it means that the boltrope has shrunken and should to be readjusted or ‘eased’.

Most boats with ‘shrunken boltropes, or improperly raised boltroped mainsails, will visually have the aft end of the boom LOWER than the gooseneck!!!! .... probably 95% of all cruisers & ‘non-racing’ sailors will have a ‘droopy’ aft section of their boom.

Once you have the proper basic ‘as designed’ SHAPE in your mainsail by properly RAISING it, etc. (by stretching out that boltrope!!!!) which brings the point of maximum draft to the ‘correct’ fore/aft position, all the ‘other trim and shaping’ efforts will be ‘much’ easier and more ‘effortless’.

[Mobnets]

Inspection of the line drawing CalebD posted may reveal why there is no topping lift. The roach on the sail pictured looks as if it would interfere with a topping lift. Perhaps a light boomkicker or the like would be a better solution if the boom drop with the mainsail down is troublesome. Or am I missing something here?
Mobnets
1973 Paceship Chance 32/28 "Westwind"

[Barquito]

Some boats have a short wire going from the backstay just above the boom, that can be attched to the aft end of the boom. This is used only when not sailing (or reefing). It is detached when sailing. I wonder, also, if your outhaul (the line pulling back on the bottom of the sail) was too long, the boom would hang down.