Mast/boom slide track

[Keith Redfield]

As the proud owner of a new (old) 78 Hunter 30, I'm still trying to understand the rigging. Why is the boom on a slide-track? I could understand if there were multiple pin-stops, but there is only one...I searched the archives, and people make mention of raising and lowering the boom height, but that would require more pin-stops...Do I need to drill my own?Thanks!-Keith(re-post from General_Interest)

 

[Tim S.]

Sliding boom

Many boats of your ERA had a sliding gooseneck. This allowed maximum sail area (pin out, boom down position)while sailing and maximum Head clearance(pin in, boom up position) at rest. The sliding gooseneck also allowed you to tighten the luff of the sail according to wind conditions, like the cunningham in sails today.When new racing rules and ratings came to be, a P or Luff dimension was part of the rating factor. So, by making the gooseneck in a fixed position, it eliminated the question of max luff length when rating boats. Here is where the cunningham comes into play, allowing tension of the luff without going past the max luff length, or Bands that you see on all race boats now.