The boom gets Goosed
I don't mean to sidetrack this thread but napleskayak how on earth does your boom move up and down the mast with that setup ? It looks like the boom can only swivel from side to side !
Well, Until Naples checks in again, I have an answer, or at least part of one...
Somewhere in the mid-70's or so the sliding gooseneck was replaced with a fixed gooseneck on most/all sailboats.
There were several unrelated but coincidental reasons. For racing, the black band on the mast came into being to give competitors a quick read on whether the mainsail was staying within its measured position and thereby showing that the boat was not cheating with extra unmeasured sail area.
Boat builders noted that the whole boom-and-sail-foot no longer could be pulled downward below the band to change the shape, and saved a buck by changing to a fixed gooseneck (held by bolts, rivets, or welds). The cunningham adjustment took the place of the former sliding gooseneck to tension the luff of the main when underway.
Finally, we buyers/customers increasingly enjoyed this change a lot, especially those of us really using our "racer cruiser" boats for family cruising.
With the boom at a fixed height, the owner could add a dodger, and not only would the boom not come down on that dodger, it also stayed a predictable height above the heads of the crew!
Or, if not completely above them, at least at a position they could remember.
Then along came the many advantages of the rod vang, which required a solid gooseneck attachment for the ninety degree part of that boom support triangle.
*Sidebar: if I had known of the practical real-world sailing advantages of a solid/"rod" vang before buying our Olson I would have changed over my prior boat in a heartbeat.
So, like my receding hairline, it's an age-related concept!
Happy Independence Day,
Loren