staysail boom

[Wahoo Sails]

My boat is cutter rigged, and I am seriously considering putting a boom and self (or semi-self) tending rig on the staysail. I have consulted "The Riggers Apprentice" and "Sail Power" on this matter, and find that they only describe staysail boom rigs where the staysail is the foremost headsail ( a less than 100% jib) ... anybody got any thoughts or ideas on adding a boom where the staysail is the "cutter rig" sail?

L S/V Eva Luna

Bob

[jcmcdowell]

Island Packets and CSY's have a self tacking staysail boom. The island packett has the custom gooseneck for the boom. We took ours off our 33' boat because it took up so much room on the foredeck. Right now, we are using a hank on stasail that runs to the mast until we can afford a furler.

jcmcdowell

[delmarrey]

The nice thing about the boom is it helps to preserve the sail, the sail doesn't whip in a luff condition, As well it self tacks better with a boom.

[BC Mike]

A cheap fix might be to rig it like a dinghy mainsail using a rope attached to two deadeyes either side of the deck that the clew of the stay sail connects to via a block.
BC Mike C

[Jeff H]

Jib booms are the norm and not the exception on U.S. built cutters. The typical set up uses a heavy duty gooseneck that is either attached to the stemhead fitting or else to the forestay. Any book that covers traditional boat construction will show you how that is done. The sheet is usually two sided and is either most commonly run to an athwartships traveler or else, more traditionally to a set of blocks that are located on the deck equal distance from the centerline of the boat.

The placement of the athwartships placement of the sheet blocks are very important on a boat with multiple headsails. On a multiple headsail rig, staysail twist becomes very critical. Too much twist and the staysail cuts off the slot between it and the jib. This requires either that the jib be eased, in which case speed is maintained but pointing ability lost, or else the slot is closed down greatly reducing speed and light air performance. Too little twist and the staysail backdrafts the mainsail killing speed.

Once the staysail is attached to a jib boom twist is controlled by the placement of the sheet blocks, just like a mainsail. If they are too wide apart, then there will not be adequate twist and too close together there will be too much twist. The newer Island Packets use a Hoyt Boom which has a rigid attachment at the deck. What I do not like about the Hoyt boom, besides its much more intrusive nature than a conventional jib boom, is that it elimates the ability to adjust twist while at the same time the geometry of the Hoyt boom makes twist adjustment all the more critical.

Putting a small comparatively heavy sail, like a staysail, on a boom has several negative affects. First of all the staysail boom really hurts performance especially at the lighter end of the windrange. Jib booms are more intrusive and make it harder to carry larger objects on the foredeck. They generally cited as tending to shorten the life of the sail by increasing leach loads and impact loads when slatting.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[Euro Cruiser]

I notice the 'Profiles' here don't provide an entry for type of boat owned/sailed, so I can't tell what type of boat you have nor do I know what kind of sailing you plan on doing in the future...so these comments exist somewhat in a vacuum. But when I compare e.g. an IP 33 with a (Crealock designed) PS 34, there's no doubt which boat I'd rather be using at sea.

Neither boat has abundant foredeck space, and I'd find the IP cutter a much less inviting (safe) area offshore than on the PS cutter, with its non-boom staysail. Also, most crews these days use an inflatable for a dink which, on smaller boats, typically is stowed on the foredeck. A fixed stay/boom installation makes the inflating and also inflated storage of a dink more problematic, typically forcing the crew to either tow it or place it on the cabin top (a big loss of visibility) or deflate it before sailing. One of the things I like about our solent stay, which I installed with an ABI quick release lever like I've seen on the PS 34, is that I get to choose when the foredeck is cluttered with sail hardware vs. available for projects, to spread out a foredeck awning, or to inflate/work on/deflate the dink.

You might think about experimenting with some of Jeff's tips about rigging and trimming your staysail before moving to a boom'd staysail. (Might also save some money, if you can avoid that extra hardware, too).

Jack

[Wahoo Sails]

Jack,
My boat is a Creekmore 27' ... and you and everyone else is forgiven for never having heard of them before ... apparently Creekmore only made a handfull this size.
As things stand, I have the fitting to go on the top half of the turnbuckle .. the gooseneck as it were, and have just brought home an apropriately sized boom ... my total investment so far is $10! My current sheeting plan works this way, there is a pad eye on either side of the coachroof, the sheets dead head there, then run to a single block (for each side) on the end of the boom, back to the coachroof where they run through another block (giving me a 2:1 purchase) then back to the end of the coachroof where they terminate at camcleats, as this is a rather small sail, this should be adequete without the expense of winches. As for staysail twist and leech strength ... well ... I make sails! I can play with that till I'm satisfied. The boom will be attached to the the gooseneck with a quick release pin, allowing me to remove it and stow it along the stanchions when not in use, the inner forestay itself is also on a quick release mechanism, allowing me to stow it and sail the boat as a sloop ... also have running backstays on quick disconnects ... the whole changeover from sloop to cutter rig should take me no more than a minute or two. One twist (no pun intended) is that I plan to install an outhaul on the boom, to allow me to alter sail shape there as well. I sail the boat single handed out of SW Florida, with plans to head to Venezuela this time next year.

L S/V Eva Luna

Bob

[Euro Cruiser]

Bob, it sounds like you have lots of options with your rig, and that you are about to have a good time if running down to VZ. Good luck on the prep during this next year, and have a great time! Let me know if you have any Q's for someone who's done that once or twice.

Jack

[Wahoo Sails]

Hey Guys,
Just submitted a photo of my completed satysail boom (under "equipment"). Complete with a 4:1 vang & cascading 4:1 outhaul. Still need to add the quick disconnects, and the single blocks (for sheets) that will mount to the eye on the end of the boom ... but it's pretty much ready to go. Should allow me a great deal of sail shape control, and ease the handling of the sail. Let me know what ya think!

L S/V Eva Luna

Bob