Catalina 25 - how is boom supposed to be secured to gooseneck

Mar 25, 2021
3
Catalina 25 Perry Yacht Club
The attachment of my Catalina 25's boom to the gooseneck has always been... questionable. See the first attached picture. The boom just kind of hangs off at a bit of an angle. There's a cheek block on either side at the mast-end of the boom, and some of the screws attaching those blocks seem to act almost like set screws and hold it in, but it doesn't seem very secure.

I don't recall if it was this way when I bought it, but this is how it's been since we got the boat professionally moved overland from where I bought it to where I sail it. It's been fine sailing it for a few seasons, but since it's not snug and tight there's always a slight worry that it might be able to just slide off. I'd like to remedy that, but I'm not really sure exactly what's causing this in the first place. I've looked into getting a new gooseneck (second attached picture) but it's not obvious to me how the new one would be fixed to the mast. There's no holes for any hardware to interact with so it looks like the boom would just slip onto it, and I might very well have the same problem again.

I don't have a topping lift, but I do have a Plastimo boom support strut holding it up from below (similar to the one shown in the third attached picture). I don't think the boom could fall all the way off because the support is fixed to both the mast and the boom, but I'd still prefer to not have a wiggly gap at the gooseneck at all.

Does anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?
 

Attachments

Mar 25, 2021
3
Catalina 25 Perry Yacht Club
Thanks for the link. I figured I'd see what info I could get from free forums before I tried the one where you have to pay for membership.

That said, looking all over CatalinaDirect has led me to believe that the goosenecks look pretty much exactly like that for every Catalina model out there - so I thought anybody with a Catalina might be able to help. I don't think my problem, or any potential solutions, are going to be unique to the 25.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
1. Thanks for the link.

2. I figured I'd see what info I could get from free forums before I tried the one where you have to pay for membership.

3. That said, looking all over CatalinaDirect has led me to believe that the goosenecks look pretty much exactly like that for every Catalina model out there - so I thought anybody with a Catalina might be able to help. I don't think my problem, or any potential solutions, are going to be unique to the 25.
1. You're welcome.

2. It IS free. Don't confuse the C25 Association with Catalina Direct. Indeed, you do not have to pay for either. What made you think you have to pay for the C25 'site? Their forum is free, association membership is what costs you and gets you a quarterly magazine.

3. Not true. While there are some C25 skippers here, there are far MORE on the C25 'site. Goosenecks do not necessarily transfer from boat to boat. Unique, perhaps not, but potentially a bigger pool there; here it's all makers and sizes of boats. Just me here with ya so far! ;)

I have a Catalina, too, and my boom has screws holding it to the gooseneck. Sorry, no pictures.
 
Mar 25, 2021
3
Catalina 25 Perry Yacht Club
I went to sign up for the C25 association's forums today and it asked me for a payment after confirming my email address. I looked a bit to see if there was some way to register for just the forums instead of the whole association but didn't see anything. I guess I must have missed it, I'll go back to check again.

I'm not saying that the goosenecks themselves transfer, obviously different boats are going to have differently sized/shaped boom extrusions. I'm just saying that all of the replacement cast iron goosenecks appear to follow the same pattern, in that there are no visible holes in the part that goes inside the boom.
 

Apex

.
Jun 19, 2013
1,197
C&C 30 Elk Rapids
yes, free forum, and great resource when i had my C25.

Looks like you need a couple items:
1) change out the sail connection from bolt to shackle to give the boom room to be properly mounted.
2) disconnect the gooseneck from the boom, cut away or repair the misaligned holes, and remount with screws. add some corrosion inhibitor: tef-gel is most common brand, but there are plenty of other options.