Hi, We are buying a 1996 29.5. Previous owner has demonstrated to us that it is necessary to significantly loosen up the topping lift while under sail; otherwise the leech of the main will be restricted by the topping lift line when we tack, (because of the overlap and battens). He also let us know the consequences of the boom dropping onto his crew when he has forgotten to reattach the line before dropping the mainsail... While it's not such a big deal, I was still wondering if anyone has found a different solution so that this is not necessary to bother with. (I will be sailing with a non-sailor wife and 3 small children, so I am trying to keep things safe and simple. ) Thank you.
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Ridgid Vang
Mark, We are working through the same issue. The two best options we've found involve replacing the topping lift with a boomkicker or a ridgid boom vang. Right now, I'm leaning towards the ridgid boom vang (Garhauer). Jim
Mark, We are working through the same issue. The two best options we've found involve replacing the topping lift with a boomkicker or a ridgid boom vang. Right now, I'm leaning towards the ridgid boom vang (Garhauer). Jim
Loosen the topping lift a little?
I leave it slacked off a bit. The boom slopes aft when shes moored but sails fine and I don't have to worry about it.
I leave it slacked off a bit. The boom slopes aft when shes moored but sails fine and I don't have to worry about it.
Loosen about 6-8 inches
We loosen the topping lift on our 29.5 full batten, extra large roach sail everytime. Like the PO demonstrated and points out, it does release the tension providing better sail shape. The first couple of times, I would forget to retighten the topping lift before lowering the sail, but by only releasing 6-8 inches, the boom isn't coming down hard into the cockpit. To make life much easier and safer, I ran the topping lift back to the cockpit. I just have made it the practice to tighten the topping lift before flacking the mainsail.
We loosen the topping lift on our 29.5 full batten, extra large roach sail everytime. Like the PO demonstrated and points out, it does release the tension providing better sail shape. The first couple of times, I would forget to retighten the topping lift before lowering the sail, but by only releasing 6-8 inches, the boom isn't coming down hard into the cockpit. To make life much easier and safer, I ran the topping lift back to the cockpit. I just have made it the practice to tighten the topping lift before flacking the mainsail.
Shippy shape
6-10 inches should be sufficient slack. What I did on my 29.5 was this... 1. insert dock pole in boom hole. 2. withdraw it slightly to sit atop bimini. 3. tie a loop up at the mast cleat. 4. now I simply pull off the loop to go slack. A fancy alternative is to rig the back of the topping life with a 4:1 set of blocks used on Hobbie Cats. Very small but strong, then you can loosen and tighten the topping from the wheel. Very impressive among the crew, I might add.
6-10 inches should be sufficient slack. What I did on my 29.5 was this... 1. insert dock pole in boom hole. 2. withdraw it slightly to sit atop bimini. 3. tie a loop up at the mast cleat. 4. now I simply pull off the loop to go slack. A fancy alternative is to rig the back of the topping life with a 4:1 set of blocks used on Hobbie Cats. Very small but strong, then you can loosen and tighten the topping from the wheel. Very impressive among the crew, I might add.
Topping Lift
I had a 29.5 before my 336. As I recall, the topping lift tied off at the mast. What I did was run the topping lift back to the cockpit thru one of the rope clutches. I freed up a clutch spot by not running the jib halyard back but tied it off at the mast. You hardly ever adj that halyard so it was no problem to go to the mast to tighten up that jib halyard when needed.Worked great. When you raise the main, you just release the clutch to get some slack in the topping lift, then close the clutch at that time so when you drop the main you won't drop the boom as well if you forgot to check the clutch. Simple solution.
I had a 29.5 before my 336. As I recall, the topping lift tied off at the mast. What I did was run the topping lift back to the cockpit thru one of the rope clutches. I freed up a clutch spot by not running the jib halyard back but tied it off at the mast. You hardly ever adj that halyard so it was no problem to go to the mast to tighten up that jib halyard when needed.Worked great. When you raise the main, you just release the clutch to get some slack in the topping lift, then close the clutch at that time so when you drop the main you won't drop the boom as well if you forgot to check the clutch. Simple solution.
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