Well my smyth main and jib will be arriving soon. The main is a loose footed square top (really excited to see what difference it will make). I am trying to figure out what is the best way to set up the main with boom. Any suggestion would be great. I have tought about drilling a hole in the end running the outhaul through it and then out in the middle bottom?
Thanks for any help.
Jody Abrams
H16 58467
What might work would be to find a old hobie 18 boom.You could shorten it by cutting it at the gooseneck end, replace the end cap and waalaa! A place to check for used parts is Tackle Shack. They advertise on cat sailor.
Have Fun
Mike
I'm making the assumption that the 16 outhaul is similar to the 14 outhaul - the line wraps around the end of the boom in a channel in the end casting, goes underneath the boom forward to a cleat.
You could probably try the easy route - a loop of strong line around the boom with a shackle that attaches to the clew of the main to secure the boom to the main. The regular outhaul might then still work if you add an eye to the boom on top near the end cap to keep the line feeding properly with angle changes from the sail. You might even add one on the bottom to be sure. If you want more purchase, add some blocks between the end of the boom and cleat on the underside.
Take a look at the website for Australian High Performance Catamarans:
Look closely at how they attach the clew of the main to the main block--a strap fits loosely around the boom. The photos of the Auscat show the rigging well. Looks like all their boats use this system.
I'm sure you could modiify your currect H16 boom and outhaul to work with a system like this--and may not even need to drill any new holes!
Found a better picture of it on Wouter's site--check out rigging photos of the Taipan 4.9 boom toward the bottom of this web page:
http:/
Seems like your could copy this system on any round boom. (Can't tell you how well it works, though. Heck, my boat doesn't even have a boom...)