The first trials of my conversion to a standard boom rig are going well. The design was mostly patterned after the development work of John Newell and Jorgen Moller in Toronto with their conventional booms and gaff rigged sails. To save money on the project, though, I went with the “fat sail” idea to preserve sail area, and not a gaff. I sourced a used Catamaran sail that has a deep draught with full battens.
Thanks John for the concept and the many emails you have responded to, sharing your knowledge and encouragement!
The picture below shows her in light wind with one reef but the last 2 days we were out in 20 knot winds and 3-4 foot choppy waves on Grand Lake, NB. It was full sail with the wind behind us the first day and was very stable and controllable and we could go on a full run. The second day was into the wind with one reef which was plenty of sail in gusts of up to 24 knots. The rig handled it well, though, and we could point up to 30 degrees but lost speed at less than 45.
While this may not be for everyone, I believe it suits me. I like the increased visibility and clearance over the dodger and bimini, easier reefing, ability to run and more controllable gybes, and generally easier sail handing. I think the boat is better balanced as well and doesn’t lose much or anything performance wise.
Very interesting Ken. Can we have so particulars? The P and J in particular. What catamran sail did you use and how did you rig a gooseneck? Photos would be great. We are approaching the 80 mark and something that is easier to unload and bring home for the winters would be nice.
Tim in STL
White O’morn NS26Ue #216
Harbor Point Yacht Club
West Alton, MO
The Luff of the sail is 37’ and the foot 14’8” which worked well with the 15’ boom. The sail came off a Gemini Catamaran which I think was a 32’.
The boom was off a Hunter 336 but didn’t have the gooseneck, but I was able to order one. I cut out a section of the existing sail track and mounted the bracket right over the mast stiffening strip with 2 - 1” stainless steel industrial clamps (used for 8” suction hoses). I’ll try to send a pic of the bracket but don’t have one of it installed yet.
Yes, another advantage of the conversion is not having to climb up the mast to put the wishbone on and off. It’s also nice to not have to work around the wishbone when it’s resting on the cabin top.
Hope that helps and let me know if you have more questions.
Looks good, very interesting. Where is the traveller, can’t tell from the picture. Please post a photo of the traveller as well as the goose neck.
Thanks,
Don
‘87 NS30U Breezin’
Vancouver BC
Ken - This is very interesting, indeed. Obviously, there is no choker to flatten the sail. Do you have an easily adjustable outhaul that operates from the cockpit and doesn’t need to be worked directly from the boom ?
Do you still have the adjustable topping lift ?
In general, can you speak to making changes in the sail shape ?
Firstly, my apologies if I have missed addressing anyone’s questions. I’m still confused with Google Discussion Groups!
I’m attaching pictures of the Mainsheet, Gooseneck, and Topping Lift as Don suggested. I plan to have cleaner and more permanent attachment points soon, but these temporary arrangements are functioning very well.
Ernie A. had questions about sail shape and my answers don’t seem to have shown up, so I’ll repeat them. The topping lift isn’t adjustable presently, but I am considering running it through my last set of sheaves in the boom so I could adjust it from the cockpit. I do want to release the topping lift and let the boom down when sailing to tension the luff and stop the topping lift from restricting the luff. The problem is when I let the boom down, the lazy jacks tighten and restrict sail draught, and my lazy jacks aren’t adjustable from the cockpit. So I’m still scratching my head on that one and would appreciate any suggestions, but I guess the obvious solution is to make the lazy jacks adjustable.
Cost of the project was about $6800 but that included $2200 for the Tides Track which wasn’t really part of the conversion. I also sold my previous sail and stack pack for $1700 which made my out of pocket expenses less than $3000 not including the Tides Track. I was very fortunate to get a used boom for very little ($100) which helped a lot. The sailing community can be very generous!
I’m not sure what other information to include but am happy to keep responding to questions.
Ken,
On the mainsheet setup, I don’t think having the sheet attached to the sliding hatch cover is robust enough nor engineered to handle the load of the mainsail. These are not very strong and attached to cabintop deck with small screws. Just now I noticed a Beneteau 41 docked next to me has a mainsheet attached to a technora rope bridle attached to two pad-eyes on either side of cabin top. I suspect these pad-eyes are bolted through a backing plate under the cabin top deck. You may want to consider a similar arrangement. See photo.
Don – I think that’s a very valid concern, one I shared as well until 2 things changed my mind.
I actually had a similar arrangement to the photo you shared, with a line attached to 2 pad eyes that already existed on my boat. It worked okay but because they were a bit too far aft, they got in the way of my Dodger. One day a professional rigger came by the docks when I was working on the boat, and thought it would be better to have a fixed anchor point in the middle of the hatch cover and that it would be strong enough to hold. When I took the hatch cover off I found it had almost half and inch of fiberglass and I mounted a good backing plate on it as well. I also installed some heavier screws securing the hatch cover to the cabin top. If there is a failure, it would be the whole hatch cover separating from the cabin top. I sincerely hope that doesn’t happen! Interestingly, I had my mainsheet turning block mounted on a deck eye, and it did pull out. (no backing plate, though) The current set up so far has withstood 2 full days of 18 – 24 knot winds and 3-4 foot waves, so that’s a good sign.
Jorgen Moller has had a mainsheet anchored in his hatch cover for 4 years without issue.
Lazyjacks can be a problem raising the sail on a conventional rig.
When we had a Hunter 26 on the lake the lazyjacks were set up so they could be pulled back to the mast. We did have to go forward but it could be rigged to adjust from the cockpit.
Why are you using the topping lift and boom angle to shape the sail? Are there factors making that preferable over using an outhaul on the mainsail clew and/or a vang? Wouldn’t those more typical sailshaping techniques for conventional booms reduce your lazyjack problems somewhat?
How does the lesser weight of a single boom compare to a wishbone and choker for flattening the sail?
Yours and Jorgen’s experience with the mainsheet attachment thus far is reassuring, but with the upward stress on the screws holding the cover to the deck, isn’t there more risk over time of the caulking between the cover and the deck opening up and letting water get into the screw holes? The screws’ holding power is only as good as the wood core, so any weakening could be problematic.
BTW, FWIW, I used to have a Gemini 105. My recollection is that it was 34’5", although perhaps the older models were shorter.
Right now my topping lift isn’t adjustable, but I want to be able to ease it, not to shape the sail, but more to tension the leech with the weight of the sail and get the topping lift out of the way of the extra large roach. I already use the outhaul and boom vang to adjust the draft but the lazy jacks restrict how much I can do. When I’m able to release the topping lift, I expect it will tighten the lazy jacks even more, though, making the problem worse. I’m going to need to rig up adjustable lazy jacks or put shock cords on the lazy jacks to allow more flex.
I find the weight with the boom, sail, and stack pack as well as the boom vang and sheet are sufficient to flatten the sail.
I think that’s a very valid concern, and one I have as well. There are 14 or so of them, so hopefully there’s strength in numbers! Also, I’m pretty sure my coachroof is solid fiberglass - at least it was back were the winches are. I checked all of my screws and some weren’t holding very well, so I filled the holes with epoxy putty and used larger screws. Here’s hoping I won’t be posted pictures of my hatch cover floating by!
