Preventers again

I recall a lively discussion here about preveners-and saw this thread on SA with some varied and interesting opinions, and so I am sharing....

Beware of foul language for the timid members here!

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40828

Enjoy!

Thanks--
Good points by many posters. Of course, this being the internet, we have no way to know which ones actually know anything at all!


This brings back memories of some buoy racing in the late 70's when I was pickup crew on a hot C&C 30. That boat had dual two-part preventer tackles, led back from the forward rails to each side of the cockpit. It took some getting used to, but seemed to work fine.

The skipper was a great person and sharp helmsman and his wife kept sandwiches coming up from the galley! He would softly say something like: "Just keep the chute and main square to the wind, guys, no matter which way I drive..." And the other boat trying to take us up would never get an overlap...


Nice folks, no yelling, and they never lacked for crew... and won a lot of silver.

I was racing OD every week in my first Ranger 20 at the time and thought that was such a *huge* boat!


Loren in PDX

What I want to know...

I want to know which lovely SA dude Seth is...

For those who haven't checked out Cruising Anarchy yet, it's worth the occaisional read as well. Especially when the racer guys who won't allow salon cushions on their boats start talking about cruising
CHris

swearing like sailors

Seth said:

I recall a lively discussion here about preveners-and saw this thread on SA with some varied and interesting opinions, and so I am sharing....

Beware of foul language for the timid members here!

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40828

Enjoy!

Click to expand...

Thanks Seth, that was a great read --- more informative but not as much fun as the infamous sailing windmill/propellor debate !

"Preventer" under motor

I use a "preventer" now when motoring in my E-38. Embarrassing story why:

We were motoring in light air, sails down, when the helmsperson cut a little too close to a crab pot buoy. After taking the engine out of gear, I was on the stern seat to watch the buoy come out behind the boat (yea!). Returning to the forward part of the cockpit, I timed my move (standing straight and not paying attention to the boom because, hey, we're not sailing) just as the boom swung across in the chop (there's a lot of flop in the boom with the mid -boom traveler, even when sheeted in). The aft end of the boom caught me on the top corner of my forehead -- I ended up with 6 stitches. Now I fasten a line from the end of the boom to a cleat on the aft outside of the cockpit when not sailing.

Interesting reading on preventers. I haven't done much down wind big boat sailing and only saw a preventer rigged once. Sounds like something I need to learn about.

John

boom to backstay

John Butler said:

... Now I fasten a line from the end of the boom to a cleat on the aft outside of the cockpit when not sailing.

...

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John, it was good of you to post the motoring boom warning. Another method often used is to tie the aft end of the unused boom to the backstay with a short piece of line.

I also always tie off the boom on my Ericson 30+ to the stern pushpit rail, both when motoring and when at the dock--it keeps the boom from swinging in the wind. I started this on my previous boat, not only to save my head from a nasty bump, but also out of concern for wear on the gooseneck fitting at the mast/boom. It seemed to me that constant swinging would eventually wear out the fitting, but I have never read anything about this--does anyone know if that is a realistic concern, i.e. wear on that joint from the boom swinging incessantly at the dock?
Frank.

Great idea

Frank, et al- it is a very good practice to secure the boom from swinging while docked or motoring-for the reasons you have both given!

To be honest (me?) my SA handle is "Sol", and I only rarely post there-mainly because I have only so much time and am known by many SA lurkers-so I keep mostly quiet (so I can spend whatever free time I have on THIS site!)


The preventer thread-even without my 2 Cents-was thought provoking, and tempered some of the things I said in our own thread on the same topic-I am still not a big fan for heavy air stuff-certainly when racing, but have to admit there are situations where it helps-both performance and safety...

Peace out,
S

booming the boom

Seth said:

...I am still not a big fan for heavy air stuff-certainly when racing, but have to admit there are situations where it helps-both performance and safety...

Peace out,
S

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I found the stories about booms snapping off mid-boom right where the preventer was attached particularly interesting. I do like the idea of using smaller line that can failsafe with some warning before releasing.

I enjoyed the SA preventer thread, too. Being a lightweight, I have no experience with preventers that would help after all that. The thread did weave back and forth from inshore to offshore and back. Natural behavior for a forum thread, eh?

I did notice that some of the posters appeared to have based their opinion on a few broken booms, not considering that a better preventer design might have prevented broken booms and mainsail brakes and other gear or recovery ills. One of the reasons that it is valid and valuable to post experiences, even single good or bad or extreme experiences that you've had -- you add a data point. And when all the data points are taken over an entire thread or topic, you might get useful information.

Obn certainly sent the SA thread over on its ear. But, in the end, his first post generated a great deal more participation, and enhanced the entertainment value and the knowledge transfer.

Thanks again everybody.

experience

footrope said:

...One of the reasons that it is valid and valuable to post experiences, even single good or bad or extreme experiences that you've had -- you add a data point. And when all the data points are taken over an entire thread or topic, you might get useful information.

...

Click to expand...

Yes, that's the way I take such things. Without a lot of experience, through the forums at least you can find out that you don't know what you don't know.

I don't remember hearing about broken goosenecks, but I have also heard of that problem from offshore sailors experiencing repeated accidental jibes in challenging conditions while using a preventer.