Does Boom in Pic Look Right ?

[Surveyor]

I will be the first to admit that I do not know much about what we are looking at except that it doesnt look right to me.

This is the boom on my A30. As you can see the boom is rotated to starboard. What you may not be able to see is that the SS plate that the downhaul is connected to is bent forward holding the boom in its rotated position. You can see some wear on the end of the boom. Is this normal situation, a boom that rotates and a plate bent forward over it?

There is a mechanism at the fore end of the boom that appears to be the way to rotate the boom and I found a special handle that fits it. Sadly, when I removed the cover and stowed the sail I neglected to take pics of the bare boom and gooseneck.

Thanks in advance

[SkiprJohn]

That's probably a roller reefing boom so it might be ok. If you can roll the boom and have the sail roll up with it then everything is the way it is designed to be. If there are a lot of fittings added to your boom and the reefing has been changed to jiffy reefing then you won't want to roll your sail on it because you could wear some holes in the main if it is reefed that way. A whole picture of the boom could be helpful for us to sort out.
kind regards,

[AnsleyS]

Jim,

It looks to me that you have your topping lift and your main sheet attached to the wrong ends of the tang on the aft end of the boom. That double block probably belongs to the main sheet. Flip it over and I think that it will straighten things out.

Cheers

Ansley Sawyer

[Blue Stocking]

The bar on the end should be straight, which will allow the boom to rotate and reduce the sail area by rolling it around said boom.
It will also allow the mainsheet to align itself when sailing.

Ansley S got in ahead of me. There appears to be a st.steel bail on the underside of the boom for the mainsheet, which would render the whole roller furling in operable anyway.

[Tynesider]

Originally Posted by AnsleyS

Jim,

It looks to me that you have your topping lift and your main sheet attached to the wrong ends of the tang on the aft end of the boom. That double block probably belongs to the main sheet. Flip it over and I think that it will straighten things out.
Cheers
Ansley Sawyer

I agree with Ansley, the whole thing looks 'upside down', plus the topping lift sure looks a bit dated !

[CarlF]

"Cutting edge" rigging circa 1968. Is there a bong and some tie dye bandanas below?

"Right side up" for the boom is what ever side has the sail slot. I assume you have some blocks for the mainsheet that don't show. If the bend in those metal tangs don't stop the boom from turning, you're fine.

Give the gear mechanism a good lubrication before turning the handle. No spares if something snaps off.

The problem with these things is that the sail doesn't roll evenly on the boom. You could sometimes take up the excess by slipping hunks of foam rubber in as your rolled.

The boom bail on the bottom might have been to attach a snatch block for a preventer or even the leeward spinnaker sheet or a drifter sheet.

Carl

[SkiprJohn]

Let us know how it looks once you've got the sail cover off and can take a photo of the whole boom. Blue Stocking mentioned a bail at the end of the boom. If it prevents you from rolling the boom then someone has added that feature.
kind regards,

[roverhi]

It's a roller reefing boom. Don't even try to use the roller reefing unless your sail hasn't been converted to slab reefing and there are no blocks etc. for the reefing on the boom. If that's the case, have reefing patches and cringles added to the sail and install cheek blocks to set it up for slab reefing.

The tang that the topping lift is attached to probably should be on the outboard side, installed after the tang for the mainsheet which should be in inboard and installed first. Hopefully that will allow the topping lift tang to stand far enough outboard to clear the hardware on the end of the boom. Then the boom would be free to assume it's proper position with the sail track vertical. If changing the order of the tangs doesn't clear the tang away from the boom hardware, you'll have to pull it off and straighten the tang and/or add spacers. Add more spacers, additional washers, so it stands farther away from the boom end till it clears the boom.

Roller reefing is a horrible reefing system that had no reason for being invented. Don't know why practically every boat, up until the very early '70s, came with it. Happiest day of my life was converting the main to slab reefing on my first boat. Of course, by then, the roller reefing had stretched out the leach and effectively ruined the brand new main in only a couple of reefing sessions.

[daddle]

The tang got bent by someone making a mistake with the topping lift. The topping lift should never have much tension in it...just the weight of the boom. Straighten it out. Roller reefing can work. If that's what you've got 'roll with it.' Not worth changing. Next time you buy a mainsail maybe switch to slab reefing.

[redcobra]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

The bar on the end should be straight, which will allow the boom to rotate and reduce the sail area by rolling it around said boom.
It will also allow the mainsheet to align itself when sailing.

Ansley S got in ahead of me. There appears to be a st.steel bail on the underside of the boom for the mainsheet, which would render the whole roller furling in operable anyway.

This and above. I had a 1966 A30 for a number of years. I completely rebuilt it. Feel free to PM or email me any questions as I know the boat intimately. Mine had a Grey Marine 25, no the Atomic 4. rebuilt that too.

ps: never use the boom roller reefing. Install Jiffy reefing and save your main.

pps: Have you joined the A30 Association? Lots of member help there.
The Alberg 30 Site

ppps. GREAT Boat for her size.