Boom is twisting, advice please?

[pdxjohnny]

Hello and happy Thursday all,
I have a rather strange issue where the boom on my 2001 Catalina Capri 22 is getting twisted and stuck. I notice no through bolt near the gooseneck that would prohibit such movement. When I straighten it... it will move but it goes back to the twist with any tension from the mainsail. I've tried tightening the boom vang, which still brings the boom down but doesn't prevent or limit the twist. A pic is worth words so here is what I mean.

Having been bit by sailing a boat with known issues, I'm afraid to go out on the water until I understand what's happening here so any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[JRacer]

Do you have a photo of the gooseneck end?

Found this, might be helpful:
.3 Setting Up The Boom 1. Slide the gooseneck fitting into the slot in mast and let it fall to rest on the mast stop screw or downhaul cleat, whichever the case may be. 2. Attach downhaul line to hole in gooseneck slide. Do not cleat at this stage. 3. Attach block to the boom. 4. Shackle mainsheet cam-cleat block to the traveller bar which is located on the transom or across the middle of the cockpit, depending on the model. Some models do not have traveller bars and the mainsheet block will attach at the center of the boom and to a barney-post or pad-eye arrangement on the floor of the cockpit in the center of the boat. 5. "Dead-end" tie the mainsheet line to the mainsheet camcleat block and "reeve" the mainsheet by alternatingly passing the line through the fiddle block pulleys and the camcleat block pulleys and tie knot at end of mainsheet "figure eight" to keep from losing end of mainsheet while under sail. You dealer can demonstrate this procedure.

Catalina 22 Owner's Manual for 1987 (dockrell.com)

 

[Jacktar]

Do you have the goosneck in the slot below the boltrope slot and a downhaul cleated after raising the main?

 

[LakeShark]

@pdxjohnny the Capri 22 is a bit of a different animal than a Catalina 22 I am afraid. You may try asking on the Capri forums but from the picture something is incorrect in your rigging on the boom. I don't see anything off the bat from the stern so my guess is something is pulling down on the front of the boom in an odd way. But it's only a guess at that. More pictures may help. Are you racing against other Capri 22 boats and if so have you compared there setup? Might be worth a walk down a marina dock to look at other Capri 22's if needed.

 

[JRacer]

Found this in an old post on this forum.

CAPRI 22 manual (8/2001 version) | Sailboat Owners Forums

And a photo of the gooseneck end with how you have it configured would do wonders for getting an answer.

 

[pdxjohnny]

I definitely agree something is amiss. According the both the linked documents, my boom is rigged as outlined there. Definitely something is up at the gooseneck though. There are a few other Capri 22's is the harbor, I'll go check them out and take a few photos of the gooseneck fitting & look for anything afowl.

 

[LakeShark]

@pdxjohnny I would inspect the areas circled in red for broken rivets, casting, etc. based on the drawing it does not look like the capri boom should pivot at all. My guess is a rivet broke off at the mast attachment leaving you 1 fastener that is allowing it to pivot. Again though it's only a guess.

 

[pdxjohnny]

I took the cap off the end of the boom and there is a 3/4” nut that holds the boom cap onto the gooseneck that is loose. after tightening it down super tight it twisted again immediately after putting it back together so im going to replace the nut and try some loctite. thanks yall, ill report back with results

 

[Apex]

look for some rigging (cunningham, reefing lines etc) that may be creating the twist. I suspect one of those lines is going under then up to its intended point to create the torque. edit: -OR- the vang going over then down. C25 had a boom downhaul instead of cunningham, so that may be an over-then under opportunity too

 

[danooxnard]

The mail sail does not appear to be bent on properly. The foot of the sail should be in a groove on the top of the boom. I am not sure if that will solve the twist but it is a start. Dano

 

[Ward H]

I took the cap off the end of the boom and there is a 3/4” nut that holds the boom cap onto the gooseneck that is loose. after tightening it down super tight it twisted again immediately after putting it back together so im going to replace the nut and try some loctite. thanks yall, ill report back with results

I don't know the Capri but I wouldn't expect that nut is the only that is supposed to keep the boom from twisting. The boom on my Catalina 30 can twist. There is no nut or pin to keep it from doing so.

Is your main sail designed to be loose footed or is it a footed main. There appears to be a bolt rope at the foot of the sail.
If there is, try installing the foot into the bolt rope track on the top of the boom and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Joe]

Disconnect the sail from the boom at all points, you can just leave the sail hoisted, but if it starts slapping, tie the clew off to a stanchion base to get it out of the way and minimize the slap. Now........ concentrate on getting the boom rigged properly. If the boom to mast attachment is a slider lashed to the boom fitting... rig the halyard to the top of that piece, and another piece of line to the eyelet underneath. This is simply attached to some type of eye on the track an tied off... What you're trying to do is stabilize the boom with up and down tension. It doesn't have to be pretty, just figure something out. On my boat I have a padeye whose base fits into the slide track, then I tapped a round head phillips screw into the track above and below the pad eye to create a fixed point. I do not adjust the boom's height once this is set up, I use the cunningham to set mainsail luff tension, rather than the old school "boom downhaul" method.

Okay, do you have boom topping lift? I don't see one in the picture. This line extends from the masthead to the back end fitting on the boom, and it is counter acted by the mainsheet. MORE PICTURES young man.

So the goal is to set the boom up so that it is stable before you bend on the sail. With the sail getting in the way you will be able to see where your problems are and fix them. The mainsail should have no function in this process.... YES... small boats are often rigged without topping lifts, letting the mainsail clew and foot(when rigged as an attached foot sail)... but for now just get the boom stable.

Regarding the topping lift. It is preferable that it be somewhat adjustable, but as long as it doesn't interfered with the leech (back edge of the sail) you can leave it alone. At this time though, you need to get that boom set up correctly... that's the priority. Don't sail until you've got it sorted out. Good luck...... remember take a bunch of pictures and let us see the problem. good luck.