Boom topping lift

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Ray Dobmeier

We just launched and rigged our 1994 26S Mac. Nowhere in the manual does it even mention the boom topping lift. It obviously was easy to figure out that the extra line hanging from the mast had to hold up the boom to get it out of the way. My question is, do we sail with the boom topping lift connected or do we unclip it once the sail is hoisted?
 

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John DeFino

Unclip for sail

I have the same "pseudo topping lift" on my 1990 MacS. You unclip it to sail. It's handy to hold the boom when the sail is lowered and when attaching the mainsail to the boom. I think however, that I am going to install a regular topping lift on mine.
 
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Doug Rodrigues

Unclip it first !!

Ray, obviously you're learning to sail. Leaving that "topping lift" connected to the boom would be like driving-off with your car's "The Club" steering wheel lock still attached. If the wind was really blowing, that could capsize your boat. You'll learn fast. Sailing isn't rocket science, but some do it better than others.
 
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Bob Cassel

Well, like everything else, it depends

If you're talking about a little pigtail that hangs from the rear stay, you must unclip it. If you have a topping lift that runs to the top of the mast, you can leave it connected, but you need to loosen it to allow the sail to flatten when it gets wind. You can "tune" your sails for light air by developing a belly in the main sail by tightening up the topping lift.
 

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Ray Dobmeier

To disconnect or not

Thanks Bob, I looked at many pictures of other peoples boats on the web and saw that some were sailing with it connected and some not. Ours is just a line from a block on the top of the mast that we tie off to a cleat on bottom of the mast. Since the weather has been so bad up here all winter and spring, we just got to launch and rig this past weekend. Hopefully this weekend we can try sailing her.
 
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Doug Rodrigues

Mis-understood.......

Ray, I mis-understood what you had. I thought you were referring to that little pig-tail that comes stock with the boat.
 
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Ray Dobmeier

Mis-understood

No problem Doug. Looking at pictures of other boats that had the same setup as mine is where the question came up. Some were connected and others not. Thanks for the help.
 
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