Downhaul on older (1960's) Widgeon?

[mzadvntr]

I've just acquired an older Widgeon. As I was rigging it last week, I remembered that the Widgeons I sailed nearly 40 years ago had a downhaul system, whereby the boom had a fitting that actually slid into the mast and was then cleated down to a cleat on a sliding track lower on the mast. Mine has been rigged so that the boom attaches to this sliding track and to me, it's way too low. The luff of the sail can't be adjusted either with this rig. I see from D&R that there is a sliding gooseneck attachment for the boom, but is this for newer Widgeons or would it work on my older one? I didn't see a cleat for the sliding track, so I'm wondering if my memory is tricking me. Can anyone help refresh my memory? I'd like to fix this so I can sail a well trimmed boat! Thanks!

Amy

 

[Sunbird22358]

My 1969 WIDGEON had a downhaul, the oldest ones (1966 or earlier?) seems to have had a knob that clamped the sliding gooseneck in place in the track instead of having a downhaul (I'd rather have the downhaul line).
I believe all Widgeons since those early ones have had a downhaul from the factory. Perhaps a previous owner lost the downhaul cleat from your boat? Easy replacement, D&R sells them, but any sparmaker should have the part. Actually, if you don't need to adjust the location of the cleat once mounted (very little reason to need to move it once mounted) you could just buy a suitable sized claet at a marine store and attach it to the aft side of the mast with long sheet-metal screws. The sliding gooseneck sold by D&R should fit your older boat, but I suspect the gooseneck that you have maybe be a close match to the one from D&R?