Garhauer vang from Catalina Direct (version 2)
Apologies for posting this twice. I edited the original after posting and the system truncated the article. This is the complete diatribe. I recently installed the Garhauer rigid boom vang on our Catalina 27. I ordered it from Catalina Direct. All things considered, the price is right. Very solid unit. There are some great advantages to the rigid vang when sailing shorthanded. Ease of raising & lowering the main, reefing. Some considerations - - You will need some type of cleat installed to control the vang. - You will probably want to run the control line back to the cockpit through a deck organizer. - Your boat may already have the hardware installed. If not, you'll need to add it before you can make use of the rigid vang. - The gooseneck should be locked in place on the mast. Obviously, you need to be able to completely raise the main, so mark the desired position when the sail is up. - The recommended installation for a boom vang is at a 45 degree angle to the boom. You must make sure that you can pull the boom down enough to get the desired sail shape with the vang installed. Depending on how things are set up on your boat, you might need to move the bracket that attaches to the boom farther aft than the ideal 45 degree angle would dictate. Check this before drilling and tapping. My unit required some reshaping of the bracket that attaches to the boom. The curve was a bit too wide. I checked with the C-D tech support guy, who said to hammer on the thing with a two-pound hammer until it fit correctly. After working on it rather timidly for about 1/2 hour, I started really pounding on it with a large decking hammer - less than 2 lb, probably about 12 oz. but the largest hammer I own. Took another hour of pounding and checking the fit to get it snug. I figure that it's probably the solidest part of the boat. Regards, Geoffrey Jackson
