Main Downhaul/Boom Vang Questions

Moderator: GreenLake

Main Downhaul/Boom Vang Questions

Postby itguy1010 » Tue May 19, 2015 6:33 am

So, I'll preface this by saying that my skills at the helm are quite rusty but I was once an accomplished sailer and race crewman many years ago. We had our 73 DSII out for a maiden voyage last weekend and it was a great time overall but I had some difficulty with the luff on the main and a rising boom. My mainsheet system consists of a nice Harken swivel block on the CB trunk with no aft traveler. I chose not to rig the stock boom vang just because we were expecting light air and I had a lot of other things to keep my attention on during our little jaunt.

I tried to put in a decent amount of main downhaul and outhaul. Outhaul was no problem but I think the gooseneck was climbing up the mast as the wind picked up to around 15mph. There are original sails I think since they have the Oday name tags on them and the DS lettering but they seem to be in very good condition generally.

Is the vang on these boats actually effective? Seems like the attachment points don't have a good angle to provide good tension. And, is it possible that my jib trim was causing the main to develop a luff or leading edge curl? It was most evident when close hauled or on a close reach.

Eric
Eric White
The "Jackie Beck"
73 DSII #6428
itguy1010
 
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Re: Main Downhaul/Boom Vang Questions

Postby GreenLake » Tue May 19, 2015 6:26 pm

I'll let others respond on the vang issue. Just wrt a climbing gooseneck: My gooseneck has a little eye on it and there's a cleat in the mast slot below so I can secure the boom at the stop. My sail also has a cringle for a Cunningham, which I don't use in all conditions, but if used, would effectively also limit the degree to which the boom could rise at the gooseneck.
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