Boom Vang

[Joseph Washburn]

I am in the process of trying to "fix" the boom vang on my 1988 Catalina 22. The problem is that the loop welded to the mast step the one end of the vang is supposed to attach to is bent to the point that you can not connect the vang. So far I have seen two options. One is to have someone like West Marine make a wire lead that would loop through the bent ring and back out that the boom vang would then attach to it. The other would be to purchase a mast hound or boom bail, or whatever they are called, for the vang to attach to. One person I asked was concerned that this would put too much pressure on the mast and perhaps cause it to bend or something. I don't see this as a problem but I am not familiar with the force a boom vang places on the mast. The other option here would be to, rather than attaching this hardware directly to the mast, would be to attach it to the outside of the mast step on either side of the mast. This would make the bolt through the mast the connection point. Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.Joseph Washburn"Disciple Ship"C-22 14408

 

[Bayard Gross]

C-22 boom vang attachment

The ring end of the mast hound boom vang attachment on my C-22 blew apart one day in a sudden gust, with a reefed main no less. The reason is not any weakness in the mast hound, but rather the particular clip on the fiddle block attached to the mast (to allow for preventer use) caused a poor strain on the ring and tore it apart. An event I thought might happen and which I did not properly re-rig to avoid.Nevertheless, an excellent fashion to attach the vang to the mast is to use two sail stops with a heavy eye strap held onto the sail stops with nylon insert lock nuts.The threads of the sail stops should be #10 X 24 (that is size 10 with twenty-four threads per inch) and thus you will need two #10 X 24 nylon insert lock nuts for these. Use the nylon insert lock nuts as opposed to regular nuts with lock washers as things loosen from vibrations after a while.The eye strap must also accommodate number 10 size screws.The threads on the sail stops will need to be cut down to about 3/8“ to ½” to accommodate room for the nuts next to the curve of the eye strap.Place the sail stops in the sail groove as low down as they will go, place the eye strap over the studs of the sail stops, crank on the nuts, and viola, a brandy newy spot for the boom vang that should be secure and unmoving.

 

[Randy]

Another Option

Another option is to replace your mast step with a new one. I replaced mine with a unit from Cataluna Direct with an integrated loop for the vang and other controls.

 

[Louis Plaisance]

Boom Bail

Attach a boom bail to the mast bolt. Stronger than the original bent part.ljpSaint Benedict, #14686