Attaching main to boom

[Ron]

I think Tony introduced the two piece gooseneck (with the flat extension) for all of the boats just before they built mine. It was not a Kevlar only sail modification, just something to allow the sail to stay on the boom when lowering the mast. Also - try using a smaller diameter shackle to lower the main's tack. Your dacron sail couldn't have stretched that much already. Maybe lube the track as well. Can you see if the head plate is that close to the sheeve at the mast top?

[Ron]

Did someone tried to lower or raise the mast with the boom fixed on the mast? (with or without the main sail on)

I've done it a number of times, but not with the sail on. If it was dacron, I might have tried it. But the kevlar is much too stiff to bend 90 degrees at the tack. It might work if I pull the luff's slugs out of the mast track? See photo -

[Ron]

I added a 2nd topping lift on the mast, a little higher than the boom would be when vertical. Just before I lower the stick, I pull the boom up, then lower the whole assembly. One of these days I may try it with the sail on. This may not work if you don't have the flat boom extension plate. It moves the vertical hinge on the boom further out. But - in my current status with the boat staying on the lift for much of the year, I may never have to. Ditto for using the trailer.

[vancouver]

I disconnected the goose neck and use the topping lift to raise the boom. As far as I remember the goose eck, without the extension (which is what I have), will not let the boom pivot high enough to be parallel with the mast.

[Ron]

Not sure what you mean by furler extension. My boat has a flexible link at the top of the head stay. It allows the furler assembly and head stay to slide back a drop so the furler drum sits in a cradle at the bottom of the mast. See photo below. It does not interfere with the screecher / spinnaker halyard at all. The head stay is lower and behind this halyard. But I did put a guide on the mast to control / eliminate any tendency of the genoa halyard to wrap around the upper swivel. The halyard was nearly parallel to the stay and that can cause trouble. You should be able to see this in the photo as well.

[Ron]

PC was adding this flexible link on some of the later boats. I (#359) may have been the first. The headstay wire was shortened by perhaps 15 inches and a 2nd piece of slightly heavier wire with swivels on each end was used to bridge the distance between the mast attachment point and the end of the headstay. The swivels allowed you to "flip" the whole stay and furler assembly back (or up) about 30 inches. When the mast is down, this brings the furling drum to a point where two small arms at the mast base will safely hold the heavy drum, rather than let this weight bob around 30 inches in front of the lowered mast. Since the stay / furler is longer than the lowered mast, it would obviously stick out in front.

I think is a good idea for any boat that periodically has its mast down and where you will wind up having to support the heavy drum. I had a Catalina 250 for a year or two where I had to do exactly that - build a wooden frame attached to the lowered mast to hold the drum. In discussing this modification with Tony (and after a test sail on the boat), we both decided that the headstay and genoa halyard were too close to being parallel. This would generally induce the halyard to attempt to wrap around the upper part of the stay. I did notice that on the test sail as well. By adding a guide perhaps 6 inches lower than the halyard exit we solved the problem. I'm not sure how many boats wound up with this setup or if he even kept it until the end.

Yes, there is significant overlap by the roach with the back stay. And I think the kevlar sail has more than the dacron. The way then got around this problem was to sew on a slippery cover to both sides of the batten pockets where they could contact the wire. This allows the stiffer parts of the sail to side around the stay. It works OK when you have some wind, but less than about 4 knots will require some assistace. I either have to release the sheet and manually push the boom out and possibly release the back stay as well. I try not to sail in these light winds anyway so it's not a real inconvenience. I've also sprayed some SailKote on the aft portion of the pockets.

When the boat is off the lift on Monday I'll try to take a better picture of the upper portion of the mast. The camera angle will be better then - the boat is about 6 feet above the water now.