boom vang and tabernacle question

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boom vang and tabernacle question

Postby dannyb9 » Tue Aug 18, 2009 2:55 pm

my 68 ds1 boom vang connects to a strap eye on the cuddy deck just behind the mast. i have cut my mast and installed a tabernacle, raising the halyards above the deck. now the halyards interfere with the vang. anybody dealt with this problem? i saw one poster has his halyards cleated off on the mast. i was considering attaching the vang to the aft tabernacle pin. can the pin take the stress? or any other suggestions...
dan in port royal
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Postby GreenLake » Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:50 pm

Might have been one of my posts. My halyards are cleated off on the mast and I've never had a situation where I would have preferred something else (I can comfortably reach the cleats when standing in the cockpit). When raising sails, I reach up along the mast and pull sideways on the halyard, to give it that extra tension -- while holding the end in my other hand, lead around the bottom of the cleat. Don't know how I would do that as smoothly for the deck mounted cleats.

Here's a picture. I don't have a tabernacle, but a hinged sleeve (described here). That sleeve would make cheek blocks on the mast somewhat impractical; the halyards would not come flat, but at an angle, just as imagine your setup.

769
[Click to enlarge]
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boom vang

Postby dannyb9 » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:01 am

GreenLake wrote:Might have been one of my posts. My halyards are cleated off on the mast and I've never had a situation where I would have preferred something else (I can comfortably reach the cleats when standing in the cockpit). When raising sails, I reach up along the mast and pull sideways on the halyard, to give it that extra tension -- while holding the end in my other hand, lead around the bottom of the cleat. Don't know how I would do that as smoothly for the deck mounted cleats.

Here's a picture. I don't have a tabernacle, but a hinged sleeve (described here). That sleeve would make cheek blocks on the mast somewhat impractical; the halyards would not come flat, but at an angle, just as imagine your setup.

thanks greenlake you are a wealth of information. i see you dont use a boom vang. i wanted one when i was racing to keep the boom from rising off the wind and spilling power. maybe i dont need one for cruising?

769
[Click to enlarge]
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Boomvang

Postby mkwmson » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:21 pm

Greenlake, I have a question that is not completely on topic for this thread, but this is as good as starting a new one. It is regarding the need for a boomvang. I have a downhaul line connected to the boom that I tie off to mast cleat about 2/3rds of the distance to the cuddy top. If I can get that good & taught, how much more would a boomvang help me?
Michael Williamson
"Wet Willy"
Spindrift DS1 #11469
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Postby GreenLake » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:29 am

Wow, suddenly I'm the boomvang expert :D :shock:

OK, here goes.

A boom vang should help in two situations. One, if you sail downwind, it should allow you to pull down the boom and present more sail to the wind (with less of it twising off, as well). More on the other below.

Especially, if you cruise without a spinnaker that could make a difference when sailing long stretches downwind. I recently learned that boomvangs weren't always led to the base of the mast on all boats - in fact they were apparently led to the rail (so you had to disconnect them when jibing). On a small, lively boat like the DS, that would probably not be a good choice for a permanent placement, but it strikes me as a great way to jury rig a vang to observe whether it offers you any benefits before you commit to adding hardware to your boat. (I jury rigged in-hauls before installing them permanently).

The idea would be to run a line between the mainsheet block about mid boom to the jibsheet block (or some kind of hook underneath your coaming) and to see whether tightening that would make an observable difference to you. With such a jury rig, the vang would be nearly vertical, and attach further out on the boom, so forces should be considerably less, making it easier to experiment.

The second situation is when you go upwind and want to let the mainsail out in higher winds while keeping it flat.

I don't have firsthand experience with either situation - some of you noticed correctly that I don't have a vang installed. Since I don't race, I don't have the competitive pressure to match some "typical" setup. You'll also have noticed the mast sleeve I keep writing about. Well, one disadvantage of that setup is that that it makes installing a boomvang not as straightforward as one would like - instead of attaching to the mast, the vang would have to attach to the sleeve fitting - ultimately to the deck.

I haven't figured out whether that's even possible. But, in the meantime, I've come across this possible method for jury rigging a test vang to see whether it will buy me anything going downwind. If that tests out positive, it should be quite motivating to find a solution to add a vang.

In the meantime, perhaps some other people have had experiences with vangs on the DS or other boats that could help you with your question "do I need one?".
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Re: boom vang and tabernacle question

Postby bnnauti » Sun May 04, 2014 7:49 pm

Naive question by a newbie-purchased a 17' Spindrift last season that has mid-boom sheeting only (think there is a block for a topping lift in the aft end of the boom). Took it out in very low wind once at end of season (before the water turned hard here in upper MI) and noticed how easy the boom could "sky" (using anothers term my learning). Thinking I need a traveler of some sort and/or a boom vang though the mast has a fixed bracket on the mast (no down-haul) so the sail height adjustment is only with the halyard.

Have seen images of DS1 rigging that employ both. Just want to keep sailing simple, safe and understand what I'm doing with any mods. Unfortunately did not have access to previous others experiences.

Thanks for any suggestion. :?
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