Boom Brakes
- Thread starter Don Lucas
- Start date
I'm not seeing it that way. He is illustrating that a vang is installed that way, and that a boom brake could be installed that way, but not illustrating one that IS rigged that way. Unless I'm not seeing it. Troy never says he used on a brake, only a preventer.
If anyone has a photo of a boom brake on an ocean racer, such as an Open 60, PLEASE post it. I like the idea, but I would like to SEE an image on a fast boat. That would tell me something.
And before you start loving the idea of a rope below the boom, I've sailed boats rigged that way and it can be a clothesline. Basically, it extends the boom hazard farther down. That might be the right answer, just remember it is there. It also shortens the travel distance of the vang or brake. This doesn't matter for a regular preventer.
I'm not interested in arguing aganist boom brakes. I've been reading off/on for a couple of days now on the subject and yet to find a story that goes "Wish I didn't have a boom brake installed." If you don't want one or believe in one that's great, but it's not the thread subject.
Ditto! we have a dutchman boom brake on Escape and it works really well, easy to set up and really controls the boom in jibe situations
On the off chance someone with a B&R rig reads the thread and has a boom brake installed; I would be interested in hear where/how you attached the lines to the chainplates/outboard.
The common recommendation is to attach the braking line from chain plate to chain plate thru the brake itself. The reasons are two. First the chain plates are two of the strongest attachment points on the boat. Second, if the boom attachment point is chosen correctly, the brake position will reside on a circle where the chain plate connections and the brake are all on the circle. This geometric result is desirable so that as the brake moves from side to side the length of the control line will remain constant eliminating the condition where the brake becomes looser or tighter as it moves.
Having said that, I attached my brake line to the toe rails being sure that the attachment points and the brake were all on a circle. This resulted in a longer brake line and a better angle for the line to run. It works just fine.
So you can attach to the coach roof if you provide a very strong attachment. I am not sure about the genoa track.
Having said that, I attached my brake line to the toe rails being sure that the attachment points and the brake were all on a circle. This resulted in a longer brake line and a better angle for the line to run. It works just fine.
So you can attach to the coach roof if you provide a very strong attachment. I am not sure about the genoa track.
My control line runs from the inboard stbd chain plate (eye on shackle) to the brake mounted on the fitting for the vang mid boom (I have a rigid vang) then to the port inner chain plate, thru a block then back to the cockpit jammers by my cabintop winches. The whole setup has worked fine running downwind in 30+ knot winds
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The geometry of the brake line providing the drag is an ellipse. There are two fixed points on the deck and the friction device on the boom. The line is a fixed length.
As the boom swings to the side, the line pulls the boom down, tightening the line and hooking the leech to windward. The boom will tend to swing faster in the center where the tension is lower, and slower at the extremes of the arc.
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I had a boom brake and I removed it (PDQ catamaran).
I am following this because I might like the idea, as a preventer alternative, on my F-24. It's not a yes-no issue.
So. I tried out the Gyb’Easy of Wichard on a broad reach and run in true wind of 17 kt yesterday in the East Santa Barbara Channel. On the first gybe from a broad reach, I was surprised at how fast the boom initially swung over, but it did “break” at the end, resulting in a kind of soft gybe without the usual hard impact on the mainsheet and blocks. Later, we sailed DDW with the headsail furled. It impressed me here how stable the boom remained. It did not rock or sway when the stern was slewed b/c the mainsheet could not slacken against the pull of the boom break to leeward. Very much like the effect of a tensioned preventer. When the “accidental gybe”did come, the device once again braked the boom such that I could recover the original tack quickly w/o any commotion. It works
. It’s a good piece of equipment IMHO for the single-hander.
. It’s a good piece of equipment IMHO for the single-hander.
I have a Walder boombrake positioned approximately one-third of the way aft of the mast per the attached link.
https://www.walderweb.com/how-to-install-your-boombrake/?lang=en
https://www.walderweb.com/how-to-install-your-boombrake/?lang=en