H 356 Main sail trimming

[jeff356]

Have a rigid boom vang an am curious how to adjust it to better trim the main sail.

Currently the boom vang supports the boom and the topping lift does not really play a role. Tried to see if I could adjust out the boom vang to lift the boom and could not get any movement. Loosened that cam cleat holding the adjusting sheet (line) but no luck.

Is there a lock down or possibly stuck, am I doing something incorrect?

Ultimately was looking for more main sail control and possible boom lowering towards arch (more horizontal) to pull on the foot of the sail.

Any ideas greatly appriciated,

Thanks,
Jeff
s/v LegaSea

 

[Bob 04 H260]

The Rod Kicker should lift the boom. If the Kicker air spring has lost its charge it may not be able to do this any longer. The topping lift should prevent you from bottoming out the Rod Kicker with the mainsheet, bottoming it out can damage it. It is best to release the boom vang unless you need it, it can damage the boom if the mainsheet is released to dump a gust of wind. We try to just use the traveller to keep the boat on her feet.
Bob

http://youtu.be/ItcE1zGNJtM

 

[jeff356]

Bob,

Thanks for the insight.
If I release the boom vang and loosen the traveler should I get lift (or be able to lift) the end of the boom?
Is the Kicker air spring something that can be recharged??
Tried looking at manuals but did not get it.

Hope your new mast is working out well and guess you are getting prepped for another great Bahamas cruising season.

Jeff

 

[Bob 04 H260]

We used the new mast on our last Bahamas cruise, all worked out well.

If you ease the mainsheet the boom should go up. The gas lift was an option on the Rod Kicker, maybe you never had one ? If you do have one and it needs replacement you can buy a new one from Selden.

 

[deacm]

Glad you brought this up as I have always wondered about it too. I have a 2006 Hunter 36 and as far as I can tell the boom vang (not air charged) is pretty non-functional. I cannot tighten it down any because the boom is already almost resting on the top of the traveller as it is. And normally when I sail (I have in-mast main furling), the boom does not rise up enough to need to pull on the vang. Ideas?

 

[ice breaker]

Glad you brought this up as I have always wondered about it too. I have a 2006 Hunter 36 and as far as I can tell the boom vang (not air charged) is pretty non-functional. I cannot tighten it down any because the boom is already almost resting on the top of the traveller as it is. And normally when I sail (I have in-mast main furling), the boom does not rise up enough to need to pull on the vang. Ideas?

on my 2004 41, with in mast furling, I moved the vang mount on the boom out about 3 inches to allow for additional down force to flatten the sail. has It worked well. Like you commented, the boom is almost sitting on the traveler now. The boat points much better with the flatter sail. I keep toying with the idea of moving the blocks on the boom out and in so that I could lower the boom maybe an additional 2 inches. The current set up has the blocks almost right over the traveler /arch.

 

[jeff356]

on my 2004 41, with in mast furling, I moved the vang mount on the boom out about 3 inches to allow for additional down force to flatten the sail. has It worked well. Like you commented, the boom is almost sitting on the traveler now. The boat points much better with the flatter sail. I keep toying with the idea of moving the blocks on the boom out and in so that I could lower the boom maybe an additional 2 inches. The current set up has the blocks almost right over the traveler /arch.

Thanks ice breaker, that is just what I was thinking of when looking at the setup.
I am going to slide the boom attachment to the boom vang back to lower the boom. Went to the boat last night and with the main sheet loose and the vang sheet loose the vang does lift up.

Jeff
s/v LegaSea

 

[ice breaker]

Thanks ice breaker, that is just what I was thinking of when looking at the setup.
I am going to slide the boom attachment to the boom vang back to lower the boom. Went to the boat last night and with the main sheet loose and the vang sheet loose the vang does lift up.

Jeff
s/v LegaSea

I have still not drilled new holes in the boom as It was an experiment, 2 years ago. Just tightening down the set screws has held well. I will drill once I am happy with the location. Good luck.

 

[deacm]

Ok, now I'm a little confused. With my boom already almost touching the arch as it is, If I moved the vang mount 3" aft it will be LAYING on the arch, no?

 

[ice breaker]

If yours is that low, it may not work. I had space.

 

[meb135]

Ok, now I'm a little confused. With my boom already almost touching the arch as it is, If I moved the vang mount 3" aft it will be LAYING on the arch, no?

Is your boom almost touching the arch when the sail is unfurled or furled?

If it's almost touching the arch when the sail is unfurled then you should probably not adjust the location of the kicker as you're boom is already at the maximum angle.
My new mainsail was purposely cut lower and I moved the kicker back a few inches to be able to flatten it out when needed. It works great.

As previously mentioned, you don't need to drill new holes to test it out, just tighten the nuts firmly and they will not move at all.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Ok, now I'm a little confused. With my boom already almost touching the arch as it is, If I moved the vang mount 3" aft it will be LAYING on the arch, no?

If the mainsail is all the way up the mast and the boom is still almost touching the arch the sail needs to be recut or replaced. Make sure the halyard for the main is allowing a full lift. Tension the halyard well and flatten the sail with the outhaul to improve pointing.
Bob

 

[jeff356]

Just a quick update on moving the Vang boom connection back. Loosened the 3 mounting screws and moved aft about an inch, so the forward set screw was actually in the 2nd drilled hole and I could thread it and tighten it down. The other 2 screws were just tightened down against the boom but not threaded as of yet. This allowed the boom to be lower as low as it could go above the traveler.
With the boom lowered I could take almost all the fluttering out of the leach. Now I loosen the vang sheet and let the main sheet do the work unless sailing down wind and the boom is out to the side and need down pull on the boom.
This adjustment worked well on the main sail and now I can use the vang effectively.

Thanks everyone for the discussion.

Jeff
s/v LegaSea