Roger Janeway
Member II
My 1986 E-26 has an 11-foot Kenyon E section boom with an internal outhaul, an internal topping lift, and space for two internal reefing lines.
Many posts on these forums by owners of larger boats discuss how terrible the original spring cams on the gooseneck (with little handles dropping down) are for their boom-internal reefing lines. I have used those cams a bit on my newly acquired boat, and can see why people object to them. But so far, they have not been unbearable. It seems to me that they are likely to be worse the larger your boat is, since everything has to be stronger for a larger sail area. (Also, to reef a larger sail, you might need to put your reefing line on a winch --- so say the E-32 owners --- but I have not had to do that so far.)
Rig-Rite offers a conversion kit for these Kenyon booms that it describes as upgrading the gooseneck cams to "friction-lock lever-action cams." Rig-rite doesn't use photos so I'm not sure what these are. Has anyone had any experience with this upgrade?
Or has anyone simply dispensed with using cam cleats or jam cleats on the gooseneck itself, and instead run their reefing lines (or outhaul line, which on my boom also runs to one of these cams since my sail has only one set of reefing points) from the gooseneck down to a block shackled to the stainless steel thing-whose-name-I-know-not that sits around the base of the mast and has 16 holes (4 on each of four sides of the mast)?
And while we're at it, what is the name of that marvelous 16-hole thing at the base of the mast?
Thank you.
Many posts on these forums by owners of larger boats discuss how terrible the original spring cams on the gooseneck (with little handles dropping down) are for their boom-internal reefing lines. I have used those cams a bit on my newly acquired boat, and can see why people object to them. But so far, they have not been unbearable. It seems to me that they are likely to be worse the larger your boat is, since everything has to be stronger for a larger sail area. (Also, to reef a larger sail, you might need to put your reefing line on a winch --- so say the E-32 owners --- but I have not had to do that so far.)
Rig-Rite offers a conversion kit for these Kenyon booms that it describes as upgrading the gooseneck cams to "friction-lock lever-action cams." Rig-rite doesn't use photos so I'm not sure what these are. Has anyone had any experience with this upgrade?
Or has anyone simply dispensed with using cam cleats or jam cleats on the gooseneck itself, and instead run their reefing lines (or outhaul line, which on my boom also runs to one of these cams since my sail has only one set of reefing points) from the gooseneck down to a block shackled to the stainless steel thing-whose-name-I-know-not that sits around the base of the mast and has 16 holes (4 on each of four sides of the mast)?
And while we're at it, what is the name of that marvelous 16-hole thing at the base of the mast?
Thank you.