Hunter 23' Boom Height/Location

[carboman]

seems like when i took my boom off a year ago during my reapair project, it was set so that when I drop the mainsail, the sail really never came out of the mast track and was real easy to put it up and down. now, i have the boom set to where it looks like it was a year ago, but when I drop the main, all of the hanks (not sure) come out when i drop the main. just makes it harder to raise/lower the main and fold it up nice.

the boom is located just below the larger opening in the mast where the hanks can be inserted.

Any ideas?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

It use to be that the 23 Had to have a sail stop added to keep the sail slides from coming out. Another trick was a hole drilled for a large cotter pin to be inserted thru the track so the sail slides would not come out. Most boats required some application of that to keep the sail slides from coming out so you could fold the sail properly and the proper name for that is to flake the mainsail.

crazy dave condon

 

[Wanderer138]

Crazy Dave is correct. I had two sail stops on my H23 mast, one above the gate (the wide part of the track) to keep the sail slides from falling out and another below the gate to keep the lowermost slides in place when the sail is reefed. I drilled holes in mine and secured them to the mast with a short piece of light nylon line so they wouldn't fall far if dropped while reefing the main. I also kept a spare in the cabin. Learned that the hard way....

 

[isaksp00]

I bought a decent sized stainless hose clamp and snug it up around the mast just below where the sail slot widens to remove the slides. I would need to use a screwdriver to loosen the clamp in order to reef.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

I ran across the hose clamp but one issue is reefing and with strong winds, trying with a screw driver is not good. Once a fellow fell and that screwdriver went into his stomach. In addition, you cannot be fooling around with that when the winds are howliing plus I have seen a mainsail rip as a result thereof being caught by a hoseclamp. The easiest is the sail stop or drilling the hole and inserting with a cotter pin like many masts I have seen.

It is your choice. Sorry Isaksp00 but I cannot agree with your suggestion from a safety stand point.

crazy dave condon

 

[carboman]

Maybe these pictures will help. Do I need to raise the boom up to the top of the mast Gate?

 

[egodsey]

Have you considered installing a mast gate? Take a look at MastGate.com for some ideas. I fabricated a mast gate from a piece of aluminum channel and then mounted it to the mast with machine screws. My boat is kept in a marina and the main is never removed, so this works for me. If you are a trailer sailor then you'll probably want a hinged mast gate so that the main can be bent on without needing any tools.
I agree with Dave Condon's assessment, you probably want to be able to tuck in (or shake out) a reef without needing any tools.

 

[isaksp00]

I agree with Dave's comments - I only use the hose clamp approach because I am on a lake, and never far from "home", plus the lake isn't really big enough to get large waves (unless the weather was bad enough that I'd never go out). I would not do that if I were on a larger body of water.

 

[carboman]

looks good. i am going to check them out. after the "project" it seems like i am getting the boat back to the original setup so the mast gate is a good option.

thanks

dave

 

[peptobysmol]

Carbo I don't see where your boom could have been placed lower and I don't know where my boom sits on the mast. But I see your sail stop right there below the gooseneck. Its the little round thingie in the sail track. It should be above the boom in the sail track. It'd be a little work IMHO to get that out without the plug end dropping off.

 

[isaksp00]

When you did your repair job, did that involve drilling out the rivets that hold the boom fitting to the mast? That's the only way I can picture that you feel like you may have repositioned it. If so, you maybe have accidentally moved the sail stop to the track below the boom attachment point before you riveted back on, and it may be that the sail stop used to be in the track above the gate, and that is why the sail did not come out before. You could conceivably drill out the rivets, remove the sail stop and put it where it belongs, and rivet the fitting back on. Or, just buy a new sail stop.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Carbo,

It will be an ugh to remove the pop rivets if using the big ones. Take Isopack's suggestion and buy a new sail stop. Do not feel you are the only one who did that. I did it on an occasion or two in the past and the bad thing was a customer pointed it out to me. We both laughed and I took care of that one.

crazy dave condon

 

[carboman]

What I thought was strange on my boom config was that there was never anything riveted Into the mast as you are describing. Looks like tjere are holes there for it though. Previous owner had the stop in the mast track to keep the boom from sliding down, thumbwheel type, and a rivet in mast track to keep the boom from rising up. I am using a stainless 1/4-20 screw.

I am using the same rig. Where I questioned all this was when I put the mainsail up and the boom sat below the mast gate opening.

I am working with mastsgates.com to have them make a gate cover so my main hanks stay in the tracks making it easier to raise and lower/flake the main

My mast gate opening is 10 3/4" long. Mastgate said they have never seen an opening that long. Maybe the PO lengthened it.

 

[isaksp00]

Isn't the fitting that holds the boom to the mast riveted to the mast - I mean the one you pin the boom to? It looks like it, in the picture on the right in your post. How did the sail stop that is below that get there - or maybe it was always there? In any case, you will be using a gate cover, so that is solved.

I suppose it is possible PO lengthened the gate - I am not near mine, so cannot measure it. The only reason that comes to mind is if the PO switched to a sail that had a longer luff, and decided to lower the boom so the head could go all the way up.

 

[C Jones]

My boom gooseneck is clearly rivited to the mast as seen in picture 54 in my profile. I thought this was original but I now see it was done by a PO. I simply remove the round sail stop above the gate to reef. My sail stop is attached with a string to the gooseneck in case it is dropped. This works fine for me in all weather.

 

[carboman]

The gooseneck can slide all the way down to the deck if I let it. The area in the red box is not attached by the rivets next to it. Previous owner had to have modified it so he could adjust the boom position from the cockpit.

 

[carboman]

just installed a mastgate this evening. looks good, works and went in easy.

 

[MrUnix]

You were not kidding about how long the opening was.. that looks like maybe 3 to 4 times the length of what is on our mast! The custom mastgate does look good in there.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[carboman]

I couldn't believe it. I measured it twice and it was 10 3/4" both times. Maybe the PO had the other main cut down in length. I have two, and can't remember if I switched them during my "project". I forgot alot more than I thought I would but it is all back together and useable once again!