I am toying with the idea of allowing the boom to rotate at the gooseneck by removing the lower of the two bolts that hold the bracket onto the end plate and upgrading the size of the top bolt. At the end of a days sailing this will allow me to wrap the main around the boom for easier stowage. Can anyone see any reason this would interfere with the performance of the main when sailing. I can imagine it may actually put less strain on the gooseneck as the force from the mainsheet should be more in line with the force from the sail. I would not be using this as a reefing system of course due to the boom vang and main sheet attachments but as I am mainly a day sailer anything to make packing up at the end of the day easier is a good thing. Possibly less creases in the sail might also be an advantage.
Any advice or comments would be appreciated.
Cheers Nick
Rotating boom
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tangentair
- Admiral
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:59 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Highland Park, IL ...07M...Merc 50 BF...Mila K
Re: Rotating boom
You might have some wear on the sail from blocks of the vang (if you use one) and the blocks of the traveler. And how are you going to control the boom if you disconnect the traveler and vang as you roll it up in windy weather? And it might take forever to wrap the sail when you can just drop it, tie it to the boom, remove the sail slugs from the track, connect the vang to the traveler and tie it all up to the boom, pull the pin on the gooseneck, unclip the toping lift and hand it over the side or slip it down below. But please keep working on it - I do not want to discourage your exploring new options, with a little more consideration you might come up with a home made furler that we all can benefit from.
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baldbaby2000
- Admiral
- Posts: 1382
- Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2004 8:41 am
- Location: Rapid City, SD, 2005 26M, 40hp Tohatsu
- Contact:
Re: Rotating boom
This is exactly what we used to do on our Mac 25. The block for the mainsheet was on a tang at the end of the boom so that didn't interfere and then we disconnected the vang. I always thought this was better for the main because it avoided creases. MacGreggor marketed this as a way to furl the main but we never used it for that; I think the sailshape might not be so good.
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johnnyonspot
- First Officer
- Posts: 441
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:19 pm
- Location: Elk River, MN.
Re: Rotating boom
I don't know, I think its more trouble than its worth and that it would be easier to get Lazy jacks, stack pack or dutchman system, or nothing at all but flaking the main and tying it to the boom with sail ties or ball bungees, or even do like Trout has on his, with a bungee connected at each end of the boom, with hooks on either side, so all he has to do is grab the bungee and hook it over the sail once he has it on the boom. No sail ties or ball bungees to lose because the bungee is always on the boom ready to go. I think twisting the sail around the boom would be a real pita, unless you installed soem sort of crank at the end. 
