How to rig boom of Wideon

[Daniel Shine]

I acquired a 1970's vintage Widgeon, but cannot rig the boom. There are two rubber eyes either side of the stern, two pulleys on the boom, and a sheet fixed to the end of the boom. Should the sheet go through the pulleys or through the eyes or neither?

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

Widgeon

Daniel -Typically, you would run a line through through the eyes and tie it off - this becomes your travler. It would be slack. A block would run on the line so that it could go back and forth. Then you would have another block attached to that one. The sheet goes from the end of the boom, through the block attached to the one on the traveler, and then back to the boom, forward to the next block, and down to a cleat on the centerboard trunk.Check out the link for how it works on the Daysailer class. Widgeons are similar.Justin - O'day Owners' Web

 

[Chas, Cptn "The Widget"]

Rigging mainsheet on Widgeon

My mainsheet is rigged the way Justin described it. An alternative that I have seen in pictures of the Widgon is this: The mainsheet is made fast to the eye at the end of the boom. From here, it goes through the fairleas on one gunwale, across the cockpit to the other fairlead, back up to the block at the end of the boom, forming a triangle at the aft end of the boat. Then it runs forward to the other boom block, then down to the cleat on the centerboard case.I think that this would allow the boat to point higher than the traveler setup. Widgeons do not point real well, so that would help. One of these days I'm going to try it.