cleating the boom

[fido]

hello to all I'm new to this site for only a short time

my issue is the mast and sails have been raised on my catalina 27 1982, the boom neck slides into the rail on the mast, as does the sails, how do I stop the travel of the boom in the mast rail, there seems to be no way to fasten it or a'm I missing some thing, the is a large stainless hook installed just behined the goose neck, I don't know the purpose of this I have been looking online for info but no sucess, any help would be great

thanks Steve

 

[Captnkev25]

Hello and welcome. That stainless steel hook is probably your reefing hook. When reefing you pass it through the reef point on your sail. On my Cat 25 I use a sail stop in the mast track to keep the boom from riding up too high.

 

[fido]

thanks for the reply, so if I have this right, I use another sail stop on top of the boom in the track to prenent travel within the track rail, the sail stop in the or under the sail will stop the boom from falling in the track wile in the sock

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Usually the boom gooseneck is below the sail entry slot. You put the sail stop above the entry slot to keep the sail from falling out of the slot. On a sliding gooseneck there usually is a line attached to the bottom of the gooseneck which can be pulled down and cleat fastened. This stretches out the luff of the sail too.

 

[shipwreck66]

I assumed, wrongly, when I bought my C27 that the PO knew what he was doing and everything was rigged and set properly. I learned I was mistaken. There were parts missing, extra parts that served no purpose, miles of extra halyard. The first time I raise the main it looked like someone had dropped a truckload of rope on me. Never hurts to ask these questions. I now have a bag full of extra pulleys and fittings and extra rope around the house for years.

 

[fido]

thanks to all for the info, I sailed my catalina across lake simcoe with a vetran racer on board, found out the traveler has a 3 point pully system that runs along the boom to the goose neck along the starboard side of the cabin to a cleat, the boom will travel on the rail according to the tension on the luff, this boat is fast responsive and very forgiving, thanks for all the feedbak
Steve

 

[jrowan]

Do you have a boom vang installed beneath the boom to prevent the boom & mainsail from riding upwards due to wind pressure? It will help your performance by improving your sail shape & sail draft. Most catalinas did not come standard with them until the 90's era. Also if U don't have telltales installed on your sails they will help u to read the flow of wind over your sails to aid in sail trim adjustment.