Rigging boom on E27

[AndrewD]

I'm replacing the running rigging on my boat and I have no idea how the outhaul and topping lift attach to the boom. I don't know what idiot rigged it last*, but it's definitely not right. Would anyone kindly offer some suggestions on how to rig it?

To hopefully make things easier, I've attached a drawing and some photos with abbreviation for the various attachment points. My terminology probably isn't great so feel free to nit pick that too. =) Blocks that have a bar you can tie a rope to are denoted as BTx and blocks that are just the pulley are donated Bx. I think some of the metal loops are for stepping the mast. I'm really curious what the car and track are for. Not to mention the extra metal tang on the back of the boom.

You can't really see them in the photos, but the cleats (Csb and Cp) are just regular horn cleats attached to the boom near the mast.

I looked around for diagrams on how to rig it, but couldn't find anything. Its certainly possible I was using the wrong terms though.

*That idiot could have been me a long time ago when we first got the boat.

 

[Christian Williams]

Hmmm. There's a lot going on here (meaning, ahem, I don't know what I'm looking at).

T2 was for the topping lift. I don't know what the bail is for. (Or maybe T1 should be the topping lift--because T1 is longer-- and use T2 for the main sheet)

The starboard side of the boom is mysterious and moderately insane. (Or, ahem, I just don't understand it.)

You have classic slab/jiffy reefing. That's what the tracks and blocks on the boom are for. You haul the reef line in and cleat it on the boom. Simple and effective.

I suggest you Google "Google Images Slab Reefing" and look through the diagrams (Avoid "single-line reefing" systems).

Below is a basic rendering of how the reef line pulls the reefing cringle down and back at the leech. Tie the reef line to the downward-facing becket on track block. Pass the line under the boom and up through the leech cringle, then down the other side of the sail, through the block, and forward to the cleat on the boom.

Adjust the position of the block on the track so that the pull is aft as well as down, to act as both downhaul and outhaul.

The luff cringle (near the mast) attaches to the horns on the boom. You may want to add dogbones there.

Learning the terms is useful. It's all on Google.

Others may be clearer, with better diagrams. Keep asking till you get satisfaction.

 

[toddster]

Your boom looks a lot like mine, but with some different bits of hardware screwed onto it. I have spent a lot of time staring at it, trying to figure out what the POs had in mind.

FWIW, the end of my topping lift is secured at the masthead, comes down to the end of the boom, through a small block, then up to a cleat near the mast. So that one can manipulate it along with the other reefing lines.

My outhaul is (mostly) internal to the mast. The manual shows a slightly different arrangement, also internal. Both involve a wire looping around a block on the outhaul car (Where your "Btt" is.) That wire then exits the starboard side of the boom and is shackled to a thin line that goes forward to a cleat. I think it needs more purchase, somehow. Probably I'll try putting a block on the end of the wire and looping a line through it and back to the mast to add at least 2:1.

I have no bail on the end. One of those tangs goes to the sheet and the other has a carabiner to clip onto the backstay pigtail.

When everything is "at rest," the boom hangs sideways. That can't be right...

 

[Christian Williams]

OK, maybe CSB is the cleat for the topping lift. The TL would then lead straight from the end of the boom to CSB. (In order to be able to reef, you need a topping lift to support the boom when the halyard is eased. The wire on the backstay is for harbor only. Toddster, does he really need a 2:1 purchase on the topping lift? Boom too heavy for a single line TL?)

Also, I don't see a becket on the sliding block BTC. Need a becket on that fitting in order to tie off the reef line for standard slab reefing on a bolt rope footed mainsail such as you have.

However, you do have two cringles (grommets) installed along the foot of your mainsail.

This suggests the system is designed to send the reef line through one of those bolt-rope cringles and tie it off around the boom. Then the line goes through the reef cringle and down to the block on the other side and forward to the cleat.

I also have a hunch the bail was added as a main sheet attachment.

Ah--or was it added just so the boom wouldn't flop sideways when hooked to the backstay in the slip?

 

[toddster]

No, the boom is very light. Actually, there is rarely any need to touch the topping lift. I just leave it a little bit slack when the sail is trimmed. Just easing the sheet and hauling in on a reefing line elevates the boom plenty.

 

[AndrewD]

Thanks for the great replies everyone, it's really helping get a feel for how to rig this guy.

I'm going to swing the bail (Ll) to the bottom of the mast and attach the main sheet to it. It seems like a beefier connection and just.. more right. That leaves the tangs free, so I'll use one of those for hooking up that wire coming off the backstay when we're in harbor.

I found a diagram online that explains how to rig the outhaul (see below). So here's how I'll rig it using my part names from above. Tie one end of the outhaul to Lsb (the metal loop on the SB side), go through Bs (the block on the clew of the sail), through Bp (the block on the port side) and tie it off on Cp (the cleat on the port side). That gives me a 2:1 system, plus the cleat is near the winch on the mast.

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For the outhaul, I'll tie into the becket on BTt, up through the block on the topping lift (Btl), back through BTt and then forward to Csb (cleat on the starboard side). I'd like to eventually add a jam cleat or similar for the topping lift since I'll rarely be adjusting that and it frees up a cleat for the reefing system.

I don't have a reefing system set up yet, so I'll worry about all that at a future time. As someone else mentioned, I believe the sail actually has rope to tie around the mast for reefing. We got that sail as a quick replacement for another one we tore and it doesn't really fit correctly. I plan on replacing that and will worry about reefing strategies once I get the replacement. We're day sailing at most, so it's good enough for now.

Thanks again for the help everyone! Further thoughts are always appreciated! I have a feeling that if I rig it incorrectly it'll eventually make itself known.