Boom Vang Question

[schred]

Not sure if I'm posting in the right forum or subforum, but I recently looked at a 30 ft. boat that did not have a boom vang. It did, however, have the traveler mounted on the cabin top for mid-boom sheeting. I believe the mainsheet had 3 attachment points on the boom. Will the mainsheet perform the same function as the vang (control twist), because of the mid-boom sheeting? I was a little surprised by the absence of the vang, but is this normal? Thanks for the information.

[Faster]

Mid boom sheeting does not provide any 'extra' vanging capability over end-of boom sheeting. Either type, when sheeted in hard, will make the vang a bit unnecessary under typical conditions, but where the vang comes into play is once you've eased the sheets and start to reach and run, at which point the downward pull of the mainsheet is increasingly reduced. Now the vang is required to control the boom lift and twist.

IMO a vang is as necessary a bit of gear as most anything else and even a fixed strop of the right length would be an improvement over no vang at all. It's also generally a fairly inexpensive bit of tackle to add on for a basic vang, but you can spend some coin on the various rigid vangs available.

[Tanley]

In shopping for a boat this past season, I came across a couple that just didn't have the boom vang attached. On each occasion, the vang was below decks and the blocks were installed on the mast/boom. Might be worth checking out if you liked that boat.

[RXBOT]

I agree with Faster, maybe you can get by with cunningham and outhaul to flatten main. Related ?, does anyone use a boomkicker and a vang. I have vang but would like boomkicker to support boom as my topping lift is not conventianal.

[Jeff_H]

Cabin top mounted travelers rarely work as well as end boom sheeting in terms of vanging the boom. Generally it is is difficult to get the downward component at the leech out of them that you can with end boom, or nearly end boom sheeting. Vangs become critical in controling leech tention and twist when reeching and preventing the boom from bringing down the rig by hitting the backstay when jibing in heavy air.

I may be missing something but I don't see how a cunningham and outhaul is a substitute for a vang since neither impacts leech tension.

Boomkickers and rigid vangs are a nicety that adds little for most cruisers,

Jeff