'EasyGybe' Boom Brake

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

Have the gybe easy. dont like it.

Have the dutchman on my other boat.. LOVE it. going to replace the gybe easy on my Ohlson with the dutchman this year.

What is it that you don't like about the gybe easy? Why is the dutchman better.

[senormechanico]

It's sold.
That was fast !

[ozskipper]

Of all jibe arresters and othe gizmos, I still like a good eye on the clew of the headsail and a good hand on the main sheet. That seems to work every time.

Cheers
Oz

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by Charlie

What is it that you don't like about the gybe easy? Why is the dutchman better.

The gybe easy seems to be all on or off.. I can't feather it like the dutchman (which you can control the friction at the unit, and with the winch)

The gybe easy can hold the boom...or let it go free.. seems to be difficult to get it to a setting that it can just 'brake' on a gybe.. seems to slam or hold fast..

The dutchman I can set a friction level and have it 'brake' smoothly..or yank on the control line to stop it fully..or feather it out and it starts working with linear force (let it out a little..it brakes less..slowly..let it out more,..,it brakes even less..but controllable).. not on/off like the gybe easy.

Got 600 miles on the gybe easy last year.. I couldn't make it work well. tried everything.. I emailed the company for tips/tricks (couldn't locate a phone #)..never got a reply. Dutchman replied to my emails lightening quick and answered the phone on the second ring.

The dutchman on our other boat, I got working out of the box. had it mastered in 2 trips..

My wife had no problem adjusting the dutchman... she was scared sh*tless of the gybeasy..after seeing what a hard time I was having with it.

Maybe I was doing something wrong.. but with zero support from the company.. I just had to give up. I liked that it had no moving parts.. but it just didn't work as smoothly as I hoped it would.

Maybe this easygybe in the opening post is a good/better product.. can't comment on it til I try it...but I'll have a dutchman boom brake on our Ohlson this year.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by cal40john

How often do you make it to the mainland?

John

Sorry! Couldn't help myself.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

Of all jibe arresters and othe gizmos, I still like a good eye on the clew of the headsail and a good hand on the main sheet. That seems to work every time.

Cheers
Oz

It only takes one accidental jibe with a 375 sf mainsail to have to change your pants, or see the doctor, if you survive. It can even bring down the standing rig.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

PS the video is lying, it's not 27 MPH wind. look at the flag and waves. Maybe 12 kts.

Glad I'm not the only one who was seeing that. In my neighborhood, 27 gusting 39 usually involves whitecaps.

Who were these clowns trying to kid? Their entire market must be newbs.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Sorry! Couldn't help myself.

Del,

It might sound funny to you, but that's a very common term on the island.
The other terms are, "going over town" or, "going to America".

[delmarrey]

Yeah, I know. If it wasn't for the big crack in the rock over at Deception........

All I know is that Island is always in my way to get out to sea.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

Of all jibe arresters and othe gizmos, I still like a good eye on the clew of the headsail and a good hand on the main sheet. That seems to work every time.

Cheers
Oz

Only if you can pull the sheet in fast enough, which isn't a given.

Everything works under some set of conditions. It just comes down to whether those conditions meet any of your needs to justify spending money/time on it.

[hoppy]

been thinking about this today... Even with the mainsheet on the cabin roof of my yacht, for a planned and controlled gybe something like this is not needed.

However if you get caught with your pants down by a sudden wind shift, then I would imagine that a "controlled" gybe has got to be better than the main being back winded because of a fixed boom preventor and certainly better than a crash gybe

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

The gybe easy seems to be all on or off.. I can't feather it like the dutchman (which you can control the friction at the unit, and with the winch)

The gybe easy can hold the boom...or let it go free.. seems to be difficult to get it to a setting that it can just 'brake' on a gybe.. seems to slam or hold fast..

The dutchman I can set a friction level and have it 'brake' smoothly..or yank on the control line to stop it fully..or feather it out and it starts working with linear force (let it out a little..it brakes less..slowly..let it out more,..,it brakes even less..but controllable).. not on/off like the gybe easy.

Got 600 miles on the gybe easy last year.. I couldn't make it work well. tried everything.. I emailed the company for tips/tricks (couldn't locate a phone #)..never got a reply. Dutchman replied to my emails lightening quick and answered the phone on the second ring.

The dutchman on our other boat, I got working out of the box. had it mastered in 2 trips..

My wife had no problem adjusting the dutchman... she was scared sh*tless of the gybeasy..after seeing what a hard time I was having with it.

Maybe I was doing something wrong.. but with zero support from the company.. I just had to give up. I liked that it had no moving parts.. but it just didn't work as smoothly as I hoped it would.

Maybe this easygybe in the opening post is a good/better product.. can't comment on it til I try it...but I'll have a dutchman boom brake on our Ohlson this year.

Thanks for the description. That helps me in the decision process.

[FrankZ]

Originally Posted by hoppy

been thinking about this today... Even with the mainsheet on the cabin roof of my yacht, for a planned and controlled gybe something like this is not needed.

However if you get caught with your pants down by a sudden wind shift, then I would imagine that a "controlled" gybe has got to be better than the main being back winded because of a fixed boom preventor and certainly better than a crash gybe

I imagine it would also help in the aftermath of the wind shift jibe, when the helmsman tries to correct for the jibe a moment too late and does another one.

Watching boats out on the water you can tell the accidental jibes from a distance, and they always seem to come in pairs. That has to be doubly bad.

[capngeo]

Interesting.... but why not just purchase a $15 "figure 8" that climbers use?

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by hoppy

been thinking about this today... Even with the mainsheet on the cabin roof of my yacht, for a planned and controlled gybe something like this is not needed.

However if you get caught with your pants down by a sudden wind shift, then I would imagine that a "controlled" gybe has got to be better than the main being back winded because of a fixed boom preventor and certainly better than a crash gybe

Being back-wind'd is not really much of a problem with a preventer, unless your out in big seas. Then one has to go forward to change the preventer if one does want to jibe. With a boom brake you don't have to leave the cockpit to jibe, just ease off on the brake line a bit and bring it around slowly like in the video.

It's when you're running before the wind that an accidental jibe can be catastrophic even with a mid-boom traveler. It could snap the boom in half if it's a single boom attachment. That's why the bigger booms have 3 points spread out mid-boom, to ease the bending effect if there is a hi-load situation.

When setting up a boom brake one does have to get the radius right or one will have different tensions at different locations. You vant a smooth transition, port to stb, with an even tension on the line durning the swing.

If not perfect, then you would want it looser, when the boom is amidship, for when the sail changes sides. It'll absorb some of the shock by slipping a bit more, then slow as it comes to the end.

I luv my boom brake! It allows me to relax a bit more knowing I'm not going to lose it if there's a slight wind shift. And I try to avoid a straight down wind run. I prefer to jibe a bit, P/S, on long runs. It keeps the sails full & it's faster anyway!