Bayfield 29, boom extension, bimini questions.

[sona1111]

Hello All,

I've been doing a number of little upgrades recently. This specific question seems like quite a long shot but I just wanted to ask and see if anyone has some something similar.

My Boat came with a bimini which works great, except that it conflicts with the mainsheet, so I can not use the mainsail along with it. Additionally, the mainsheet also conflicts with the captain (:P) if they are standing up while piloting at the wheel, especially during a tack.

I'm wondering if there has been anyone who's considered trying to extend their boom slightly, and if their would be any downsides to it? I might also need to adjust / cut the stern cage / rail a bit, but I've not calculated the angle with a different boom to verify this yet.

Interested in any general information of warnings about a project like this.

Thanks for reading!

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by sona1111

Hello All,

I've been doing a number of little upgrades recently. This specific question seems like quite a long shot but I just wanted to ask and see if anyone has some something similar.

My Boat came with a bimini which works great, except that it conflicts with the mainsheet, so I can not use the mainsail along with it. Additionally, the mainsheet also conflicts with the captain (:P) if they are standing up while piloting at the wheel, especially during a tack.

I'm wondering if there has been anyone who's considered trying to extend their boom slightly, and if their would be any downsides to it? I might also need to adjust / cut the stern cage / rail a bit, but I've not calculated the angle with a different boom to verify this yet.

Interested in any general information of warnings about a project like this.

Thanks for reading!

I think there is no reason why you could not do this. You'll want to take the boom off and go to a welder. Make it strong. The extension does not even have to be the same shape as the boom.

Just be sure you check the angles and dimensions. Consider where the mainsheet will pass when the boom is all the way out. Does your mainsheet run on a traveler? If so you'll have to relocate the traveler too. All in all it might be a big job but if you can use the bimini while sailing it could be very worth while.

[sona1111]

I just realized that I forgot to mention the vessel in my post. I've added it to my profile. (Bayfield 29)

Yes, the mainsheet does move on a long traveler. Here is an image of the area (not mine, I just found it online)

Currently, the snaps for the back panel of the bimini are located behind the traveler, which won't do, but I think I should be able to move them to the inside without a significant adjustment to the shape of the bimini. However, it will definitely be a tight squeeze, even with the boom extension.

Another Idea I had seen on another website indicated that it might be possible to rig up some kind of traveler on the cabin-top, in front of the dodger. This sounds like a little more practical of a setup in theory but I would be a little concerned about leverage / integrity with this kind of setup. Does anyone know any good or bad experiences attempting a modification like that?

[TrentePieds]

Sona:

TrentePieds has much the same layout as the Bayfield 29, and has her traveler mounted on the roof top, just over the fore-edge of the companionway hatch coaming. Thus the hatch itself slides in UNDER the traveler when you open it, and the mainsheet is never in the way when you go through the companionway.

Neither the Bayfield not TrentePieds, a Fraser 30, is a hot racing boat, but most decidedly a cruising boat. Therefore the forces to which the rig is subjected are not so great that you cannot afford to have the mainsheet attach to the boom halfway between the gooseneck and the boom end.

An alternative in both boats would be to have the traveler mounted on the so-called "bridge deck" the narrow "step" in the cockpit immediately aft of the companionway. That works because it is very, very rare that you have to use the companionway while the sheet car is centered on the traveler. If that situation arises you can, because we are talking cruising boats here, just shift the traveler a bit to leeward till the traffic through the companionway subsides.

Gotta run, but I'll have more to say tomorrow.

Cheers

TrentePieds

[Adelie]

If you extend the boom make sure that it can never touch the back stay, even if the band is loose and the aft end of the boom rises. You probably want 6” clear, 4” at a bare minimum. That means you are going to be able to add 6-12” from the looks of the line drawing.

[TrentePieds]

Carrying on from where post #4 left off:

When TP came to us, she had a bimini. I took it off. There is absolutely NO reason to have such an impediment to seamanship in my latitude. The Salish Sea is north of 49º. Because terminology varies from place to place, let me say that a bimini, to me, is an awning supported by a (normally tubular) framework. It has no side curtains. I is rather like that on the kind of horse carriage called a "surrey". If it does have side curtains, as I gather yours does, then, to me, it's a "cockpit enclosure". A cockpit enclosure can certainly be handy in northerly climes, but it interferes with seamanship even more than a bimini does, so I wouldn't have one. I prefer to simply wear my "foulies" (foul weather gear) when the weather turns inclement. A third kind of device that I call either a "dodger" or a "spray hood" covers only the very fore-end of the cockpit when it is raised, and it gives protection to the companionway when the spume is flying or when it is raining.

While recognizing that a cockpit enclosure has the great advantage, when you are alongside or on the hook, that you can slough off your wet foulies in the cockpit so you don't have to drag them below and get everything wet there, I don't think that that is a boon I'm willing to pay for by accepting the detriment to seamanship that a cockpit enclosure constitutes when under way.

Like your Bayfield, TP is wheel-steered. IMO that is an completely unnecessary complication in so small a boat. Had I more years left in me than I can reasonably expect, I would convert to tiller steering, but at this point in my life, the expense of doing so can hardly be justified. Like in your Bayfield, TP's backstay has been taken to the midships point on the transom. However, in TP the wheel is sufficiently far forward in the cockpit that a (small) man can stand behind the wheel without being interfered with by the backstay. In your photograph it looks as if that is NOT the case in your Bayfield. The easy remedy is to shorten your existing backstay by about 8 feet or so and let the nether end terminate on a bridle taken from one transom corner to the other via the nether end of the backstay. Such an arrangement is not uncommon and is known as a "split backstay" and permits the helmsman to sit on the seat with his upper body coming through the inverted "V" of the bridle. That is not a particularly expensive modification to make, and you might wish to contemplate it.

All the best

TrentePieds

[sona1111]

Hi TrentePieds,

Thanks for the suggestions. The split backstay idea does sound interesting, but does of course not solve the mainsheet dilemma. Also, the current backstay is far aft enough that I'm (6'1) able to stand behind the wheel without hitting it.

The enclosure that came with the craft is of a fully enclosed variety, seemingly designed to even keep out mosquitos.

Interestingly, I've found a video today where someone apparently used did use the cabintop approach, but it looks like it uses a dual-mainsheet instead of a traveler. I would also want to use more boom attachment points if I ever attempted something like this. Interesting:

https://youtu.be/rXYcDCErksA?t=144 (shown at 2:24 in the video, same boat as mine)

[Djarraluda]

My previous boat, a Compass 28 had mainsheet on aft end which then formed a rather severe angle meaning I could not stand under the boom (tiller steering). When the reefing winch mounted on the boom literally fell-off one day, I was concerned at the corrosion around the mounting holes and thus weekness of the boom. I bought a new extrusion length, rounded-up by 600mm to the next Metre length which I would pay for anyway. 2 hours work to fit the end fittings and I had a new boom, over length for the main but pushing the mainsheet aft so I could now stand. It looked a bit odd, as if the main was too short on the foot but it was a huge improvement in comfort for me.
So Yes, it has been done and as others have noted above, provided it clears backstay etc adequately all is good.
Roger

[Djarraluda]

Originally Posted by Djarraluda

My previous boat, a Compass 28 had mainsheet on aft end which then formed a rather severe angle meaning I could not stand under the boom (tiller steering). When the reefing winch mounted on the boom literally fell-off one day, I was concerned at the corrosion around the mounting holes and thus weekness of the boom. I bought a new extrusion length, rounded-up by 600mm to the next Metre length which I would pay for anyway. 2 hours work to fit the end fittings and I had a new boom, over length for the main but pushing the mainsheet aft so I could now stand. It looked a bit odd, as if the main was too short on the foot but it was a huge improvement in comfort for me.
So Yes, it has been done and as others have noted above, provided it clears backstay etc adequately all is good.
Roger

Forgot to add, I took the opportunity to use internal reef lines and use coachroof winches for reefing lines. Another vast improvement.
Roger