How to Adjust height of Boom?

[Joe]

With mainsail up and centered with topping lift slackened, the boom on my H33.5 seems about 2" too low and could cause injury during an accidental jibe. Two possible fixes come to mind:1)Have a couple of inches trimmed off the bottom of the mainsail at the aft end, tapering to nothing at the gooseneck. That could be expensive!2)If there is extra space above the raised sail, seems that the boom could be adjusted higher at the gooseneck. Are either of the above solutions practical? Is there a better approach?Thanks, Joe

 

[tim S]

Mainsail

There is another possibility. That is, the luff rope has shrunk. This is common in older sails. This in effect shortens the luff while the leech remains the same, causing the boom to drop a bit. A sailmaker can generally ease the bolt rope at a nominal cost, around $25.If this is not the case, a foot recut is not too expensive either. There is a Doyle Sailmaker in Alameda, Bill Columbo, I'm sure he can give you some good advice.

 

[Don Alexander]

Clew Angle

Joe,It is quite common for sailmakers to make the angle between foot and luff on mainsails at about 95°. If your mast is fairly upright this should give a level boom or the clew slightly higher than the tack.It is normal on boats of that size for the boom to be a hazard to the crew.In the days of the old IOR ratings we often deliberately had a drooping boom to gain a little unmeasured sail area.Boy these really were lethal - I know because I had one and it knocked a guy senseless as we were setting the spinnaker as we crossed the starting line.We noted him collapsed and bleeding on the cockpit sole and just got on with getting the best start. Such is racing!Regards,

 

[Dakota Jim Russell]

Couldn't resist . . . select short crew <nm>

Apologies to those providing serious answers.