Raising a Boom?

[mrudman850]

Hi

Just got a mooring in Plymouth MA harbor after a 7 year wait. Have a Buccaneer 180 with a swing keel and debating whether or not to go to a fixed keel boat (Catalina 22 fin or wing).

Only feature we don't like about the Buccaneer is the height of the boom. Still a neophyte sailor and wondering if I can relocate the boom further up on the mast to avoid the head bruises? If able, I assume I'd just remeasure and order a new sail or cut and resew the old one.

What do you think out there? Am I foolish to put a swing keel on a mooring to begin with?

 

[whatfiero]

Raising a boom

Crazy less sail changing design and a lot of money for little gained just install a topping lift and pull boom out way when not in use and sitting in cockpit

 

[FB111A]

You can have the sail recut to raise the aft end of the boom. You won't loose much sail area. Talk to your sailmaker.

 

[Sock Puppet]

You're going to ignore a perfectly good opportunity to justify a new boat???

 

[mrudman850]

Excellent point!

 

[RichH]

Please explain in brief detail why you want/need to raise the boom?
... for Sailing?
... for cockpit/head clearance? etc. ;-)

 

[mrudman850]

Cockpit clearance to reduce head banging

 

[RichH]

Cockpit clearance to reduce head banging

When sailing or lounging?

 

[mrudman850]

Sailing

 

[Eric M]

Back to the discussion of a swing keel on a mooring...do you have a way to keep rain out of the cockpit when you are not at the boat? How about marine growth on the bottom of the boat/rudder/centerboard? I would definatelly be concerned about damaged to the centerboard trunk from the rocking of the boat due to the passing of every wave / wake. Just a few additioanl things to consider. Your idea of a C22 is probably more suited for life on a mooring. Congrats on your new mooring.

 

[Paul F]

I like your choices. If you can upgrade to a fixed keel, do it with out changing your current boat. The 180 will sell better if it is left original. You will enjoy a fixed keel bigger boat much more and it will look better swinging on the mooring. You can't lose no matter which way you go. enjoy.

 

[Scotty C-M]

You can change the boom height (and recut the sail) easily. The down side is that the boat may be a bit slower, and it might affect resale value. If you like the boat and this is the only problem, it's a reasonable change.

 

[RichH]

Sailing

OK understand.

Most newbies and many many old salts simply dont RAISE /hoist their mainsails properly and with not enough halyard tension which causes especially the aft end of the boom from 'drooping' into the cockpit (and they get crappy sailing performance as well).

Before you make any 'radical' physical changes to your boat, go to: http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=120970 , read the first post (post #1) and apply those principals of 'how to'. On a boat like yours with a ~21ft. dimension of the mainsail's luff, and when you 'crank in' a proper and additional 2 or more inches of mainsail halyard strain, the boom aft end will simultaneously raise itself by this amount .... and thats for brand new sail. (dont forget to release all tension on your vang and mainsheet when raising.)
If your sail is old ... there's a heavy 3-strand rope sewn into the luff section and usually over time this 'rope' shrinks in its length ... and requires ADDITONAL strain on the halyard to ultimately get the sail to is 'designed' (correctly raised shape and geometry) - could be another 1-2" additional lifting of that boom. 3-4" is a whopping lift of the boom on a boat that size. The simplified directions on how to get that mainsail 'up', correctly raised so that the sail is 'stretched out' to what the sailmaker intended and the final geometry of how far that boom should be from the cockpit floor by the boat designer is found in that above link, posting #1. If that 2-4" of extra clearance under the aft end of the boom is what you need, then there is no need to do 'alterations'.

PM me directly (or here as a reply to this posting), I you have difficulty in understanding what is being presented in that #1 post in that above listed 'thread'. ;-)

 

[rardiH36]

Sorry to interject with a variation on the theme. I was curious as to what a Buccaneer 180 actually was. At 18', I'm sure its a great boat for day sailing, but it's not in the boat size category that most of us are used to responding about.

Raising the boom on a sailboat this size to the height that is above head collision range would make for a really weird looking boat! Would sort of be like doing a 2nd reef, except it's accomplished by cutting off the bottom of the sail. Here's a link to a picture of the boat:

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=4872

For mrudman850: I sailed as a teenage on center-board boats of size and cockpit configuration much like your Buccaneer 180. My suggestion is that for the type of boat you have, accept it for what it is ... a fun smaller boat to sail. Just learn to avoid the boom. Sailing solo on my 36' 13,800 lbs Hunter, I most often wear a bicycle helmet just to be sure that when I leave the cockpit, or stand on the seats to reach something, that my head won't be too badly hurt.

 

[Scotty C-M]

Thanks rardi, I can see now that raising the boom on this particular boat might not work out!