Preventer with a snubber

[Don Guillette]

Mates: Yesterday, after having lunch at my favorite place in Alamitos Bay, Ca I took a dock stroll as I always do in order to walk off some of my lunch. I saw an interesting preventer setup. I hate to recommend setups that I actually have never tested on my boat but I think this one will work.I never liked the standard preventer setup where a mate ties a line to the boom and then ties the other end to whatever. I've seen guys use bungee cords and that is a deadly situation if one of those clips breaks off and flys through the air. Anyway, what I did not like about the conventional preventer was when the boat was in rolling conditions and the way the preventer snapped as the boom moved, but I just lived with it. What I saw on a boat was a lenght of line with a anchor snubber in the middle of it. I thought it probably was for his anchor and asked the boat owner what it was. He told me it was "preventer snubber". That got my attention and I asked him how he used it. Obviously, it is pretty simple. He hooks one end of the line to the boom and the other end to a cleat or whatever. Then he eases the mainsheet a bit so the snubber is under a little pressure and that is it. He claims it works great. I think it would also.On preventors - One should ALWAYS be used where appropriate (especially if you value your rigging and the personal safety of your crew) and also it should be easy to get loose -quickly.What do you think of this sailors invention? Do you think it would be functional or am I missing something?

 

[sailaway78]

Preventer

Don, I like the hell out of that idea. I always use a line tied off to the toe rail on my S2. Well, most of the time. Works pretty good. I think the snubber is a much better idea, but really need to come up with a down and dirty fool proof quick release idea to go with it.

 

[Seattle Scott]

I use a "climbers" rope

which streach something like 5-10% in length when under load, so if the boom goes into the water (broach) I might have some "streach" time to solve the problem before the boom snaps. Also when I attempt to jibe without releasing the preventer ( Hey, I'm human) I get a little streach while I am cranking in the boom to center, and figure out what I forgot to do. You go to a climbing store and get "dynamic" as opposed to "static" rope. P.S. After the rope is cut off the spool at the store, climbers still call it rope, not line.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Preventer

We make the cunningham do double duty.The blocks on the cunningham both have snap shackles.The top block goes to boom bail. The bottom block goes to the base of a turnbuckle or the midships cleat.The block have 3:1 purchase.The line is EXTRA long and has been led back to the cockpit to a cam cleat.Very simple to use, easy to deploy, easy to release, no extra hardware.Stu

 

[David W]

Stu, that is a really good idea

I have used my vang tackle taken to the toerail but always disliked losing the ability to harden the vang to pull the boom down.Just a question, about how far aft on the boom do you shackle the tackle

 

[Don Guillette]

David W: On the downwind leg or any time the boom is near or over the rail, that is when your boom vang comes into play to stop the boom from its tendency to want to rise.

 

[Don Guillette]

Preventer with a snubber (nice n easy)

Nice n easy: Use Stu's suggestion. Go with the snap shackles.

 

[s sauer]

Boom Vang / Preventer

I have a 3:1 vang with the becket end attached at the mast base. The top block is attached to a single line which runs to a block on the tang on the underside of the boom and then down to the mast base again. This effectively doubles the purchase of the boom vang; however, if I disconnect the single line and take it down to either rail, my boom vang becomes a preventer and still holds the boom down as well. I can easily snap down on the control line to release it at the becket from any point on either railor in the cockpit.

 

[RichH]

A different way ....

I dont like putting a preventer to the rail.I have permanently attached wire cables the exact same length on each side of the boom, the cables are attached to the boom end & the other terminal ends are eyes. I connect/use the same line that I use for securing the tack of an asymetrical spinnaker - run back to one of the cables. When I need to set a preventer I hook up the tack line to the side needed for a forward pull on the boom end. After gybing, I go to the mast and simply switch sides/cables from the relative security of the mast base. I have a rigid vang and a very 'wide' traveller so there is no need to downhaul the boom.

 

[John Nantz]

Interesting Idea

The idea of using a snubber to reduce the shock load is a good idea. The rig and it's components should not be subject to shock loads if possible - it's hard on the equipment and can exacerbate a weakness, be it a flaw or a low safety factor, which could result in failure.The next time you're out on one of those "lunch breaks" and happen to see the guy let him know the world knows about and has discussed his idea!

 

[Stu Jackson]

David W

We have three boom bails holding the mainsheet to the boom. I use the middle or sometimes the aft bail.I also understand using the soft vang this way. We have a Garhauer rigid vang. I would recommend leaving the vang in place AND using a separate preventer, since the van pulls down, too, at a much better angle to flatten the sail when you're sailing downwind, which is when you need the preventer!Stu