i am interested in installling a topping lift on my capri 18. my backstay has a pigtail clip for the boom but i thought a topping lift made more sense. that way the boom is free to move in case the boat falls off while im raising the main. will a topping lift interfere with the backstay.
topping lift on capri 18
- Thread starter sailorsteve1
- Start date
the fitting at the masthead that houses the main halyard sheave has three holes in it . the outermost one receives the backstay. i was thinking that the next one could be used for a simple topping lift and then maybe attached to the rear of the boom or maybe on one side of the boom near the rear. would that work.
I think so. Just engineer a way to adjust it either from the fwd part of the boom, or (preferably) the cockpit.
gonna give it a try. thought it might be a little safer than attaching the boom to the backstay while raising the main. thanks
For what it's worth, do not clip the boom to the pigtail (on backstay) when raising the main. You don't want the sail to fill with wind while it's still clipped because you can't let it out if needed and it puts a lot of load on the backstay. Bad news, come from experience... The pigtail should only be used to hold the boom out of the cockpit when the sail so down.
As for rigging a proper topping lift, check out the Catalina 22 section at Catalina Direct. They have a nice setup that you can purchase and adapt to your CApri or recreate on your own. Simple, but effective.
Good luck!!!
tried my topping lift today on the lake. it worked perfect---safer than the pigtail and kept the boom out of the cockpit while raising sail.