Hi all,
Hope someone has either a clear answer or strong opinions on this one.
After 4 long years, we have a rig back on our E39 , which was originally set up for racing. Now we're in the process of modifying the rig to make it easier for the two of us to cruise.
In putting the boom back on, we realized that the boom was originally set at about 8-feet off the deck. The racing measurement stripe and hoisting the sail confirms this. I double-checked the measurements, and the "I" measurement (at 52.04') minus the "P" measurement (at 44.04') gives a difference of 8-feet, which would be the distance from the deck to the boom.
I guess 8-feet high is fine if you're racing with the original gooseneck, topping lift, downhaul and boom slide that lets you drop the boom below sailing height to flake the sail. However, we want to ditch this oversized dinghy arrangement in favor of a fixed gooseneck, lazy jacks and a rigid vang. A boom where the gooseneck is permanently 8-feet up in the air would be nearly impossible to sail with safely.
Our rigger is recommending fixing the boom height at about 4-feet to 4.5-feet off the deck, which would make the boom and mainsail easy to tend, plus it would make the boat less tender with our original-spec sail, since the sail area would drop a few feet. He also argues that if we were so inclined, the lower boom height would let us add more sail area when it comes time to buy a new main.
In the cockpit, this new boom height is still plenty high enough to accommodate the bimini and dodger we want to install.
My question is: Are we missing anything? Are there any downsides to this new arrangement (apart from the risk of getting clobbered by the boom, which is the case on 99% of all sailboats out there anyway)?
Thanks!
Dan
Hope someone has either a clear answer or strong opinions on this one.
After 4 long years, we have a rig back on our E39 , which was originally set up for racing. Now we're in the process of modifying the rig to make it easier for the two of us to cruise.
In putting the boom back on, we realized that the boom was originally set at about 8-feet off the deck. The racing measurement stripe and hoisting the sail confirms this. I double-checked the measurements, and the "I" measurement (at 52.04') minus the "P" measurement (at 44.04') gives a difference of 8-feet, which would be the distance from the deck to the boom.
I guess 8-feet high is fine if you're racing with the original gooseneck, topping lift, downhaul and boom slide that lets you drop the boom below sailing height to flake the sail. However, we want to ditch this oversized dinghy arrangement in favor of a fixed gooseneck, lazy jacks and a rigid vang. A boom where the gooseneck is permanently 8-feet up in the air would be nearly impossible to sail with safely.
Our rigger is recommending fixing the boom height at about 4-feet to 4.5-feet off the deck, which would make the boom and mainsail easy to tend, plus it would make the boat less tender with our original-spec sail, since the sail area would drop a few feet. He also argues that if we were so inclined, the lower boom height would let us add more sail area when it comes time to buy a new main.
In the cockpit, this new boom height is still plenty high enough to accommodate the bimini and dodger we want to install.
My question is: Are we missing anything? Are there any downsides to this new arrangement (apart from the risk of getting clobbered by the boom, which is the case on 99% of all sailboats out there anyway)?
Thanks!
Dan