Rigging trisail - boom to deck

[Kd9truck]

Lots of good points. My boom is pretty high off the water windage high is a concern with wind over 50 knots for me, I have a footless main and a lazy Jack/stack pack sail bag. I constructed the bag. A key design feature that I was to be zip up both ends of the stack pack with the sail in it. So I can remove the sail in the bag with the sail in it keeping it contained in adverse conditions. I can put my sails on in this “sealed” stack pack in 20+ knots. The lazy Jack lines help in the lifting and in the removal.
I lash my boom in place to my stern cleats.

I do not have a tri sail yet.
I have theorized attaching a tri-sail with the boom in place, maybe even a fixing an external short track just off center along side the mainsails track and continue the track down to the deck. But it just theory right now. I know the boom would inhibit efficiency when the boat is on a backing tack against the boom but at that point does it really matter? I could even add extra Chaffe patch to the tri-sail. Again just theory.

Cheers all

[Benz]

Think about installing a boom gallows to immobilize the boom. Honestly, with all the clutter people put on their boats with dodgers and biminis and stern arches, it boggles the mind that they eschew the one item that makes sail handling and stowing a million times safer and easier than without it.
Once the boom is firmly in the gallows, you can pull the lazy jacks out of the way and do whatever you want with the storm try'sl. The last thing you want to do when it gets bad enough to need the try'sl is try and pull pins and let battering rams flop around. What takes a minute in theory and two minutes in calm water will take forever in storm conditions, and be dangerous to boot.
And if you do get the boom end down on deck and lashed, do you really want that sort of barrier slanting across your gangway forward, just waiting to snag on staysail sheets, or (horrors!) furling lines, or exposed to sweeping waves that will take time to drain from the stack pack, which is a giant bag?

[Nekton73]

My input until now has been directed towards enabling your stated goal, which is to disconnect the vang, drop the boom, and raise a trysail. I do have to agree, though, that this isn't the best strategy. Lots of good input so far, and I'm not disagreeing with any of it, or agreeing that it is better, just that it's good info to consider. Here's something else:


https://www.yachtingworld.com/video/...torm-sails-517


Personally, this is my preferred solution... a fourth reef. I'm not saying it is the be all and end all, but it is what I would choose. I already have 3 reefs in my main and am very happy to have them. I use 2 regularly and the third rarely. I never expect to be cruising distances and conditions that would require a fourth reef so I haven't bothered with one, but, if I were to I wouldn't hesitate to have one put in.



So, something else to consider as you develop a system that you feel is right for you on your boat. Good luck and safe sailing.

[Wallaby]

I have my boat rigged and ready for storm sails, and NEVER USED them. I have had one opportunity--with barely enough time to furl the genoa and reef the mainsail, let alone put up storm sails.
It was in 2019, during a Gulf Stream run from Great Sale Cay to Beaufort SC. A massive thunderstorm (80 miles wide x 50 miles deep) came from astern with winds at 78 knots. The forecast called for 'chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon'. The waves were about 5-feet, all breakers. Complete whiteout. With two reefs in the mainsail (wasn't time for the third reef--a messenger line issue), the boat handled it great during two scary hours, including a gybe in 40-knot winds

Now, about my storm sails... The storm job is a hank on, with a detachable inner forestay. If I want to use it, I need to raise it and furl/secure the genoa before the storm arrives. Doing that during a storm, putting on a inner forestay and running backstays, and being on the foredeck with waves and a flapping storm jib, alone, is plain dumb.

The tri-sail has its own track! This is crucial, IMHO. Single-handedly taking off a mainsail from the track (with full battens) and then storing it in the stak-pak--NO WAY!!
Not only must the tri-sail have its own track, it must be on the track, securely bagged, and with sheets attached and ready to go up once a halyard is attached. This means the clew has to pass above the boom. It means dropping the lazy jacks and securing the top of the stak-pak, but that is doable, more or less. Depending on the situation, it might make more sense to go bare poles, or use the storm jib alone....

[JohnHolland]

Install a boom gallows, sheet the boom end into it tightly for a strong safe heavy wx frame

[Cynara]

We went cruising before we completed everything we thought we wanted. Including getting a tri-sail.

You just won't have time or money to do it all. Also it is like painting a bridge when you finish you have to start over.

Our boat hove-to well so when the weather turned to hell that is what we did even in 60+ knots

[OneBoatman]

Why not raise the tri sail about 6-10 in inches and rig a single sheet to the end of your boom and down to the cabintop or put it under tension and use the boom it self to change the angle of attack. You are not looking for performance only for function without chafe.

[Traumerei]

Disconnecting the boom vang should not be hard and if rigged with a quick release clevis pin can be done in a minimal amount of time. You’ll want a topping lift or main halyard supporting the end of the boom.

The most important thing to contend with is the vang itself. Most use a combination of an internal spring and a hydrolic pre-charged gas strut. Earlier vangs had a block and tackle with a cam cleat and had to be adjusted at the base of the mast. Newer versions can have the adjustment line for the vang running back to the cockpit.

In either case you’ll want a means of supporting the boon and lifting it until there is no pressure on the vang and it’s fully extended before disconnecting it.

With minimal practice, securing the boom and rigging the trisail can be done quickly and with minimal effort.

It easier to set it than wish you had. Depending on point of sail, above 35kts true there is little lost in performance and your not going to blowout an expensing sail and risk damage from an accidental gibe both to the boat and the crew.

[OneBoatman]

I'm missing your concern. Its a trade off as you create a hazard by laying the boom to the deck at either rail unless you have flush deck aft cockpit boat and a boom short enough to secure amidships. Of course you have a topping lift. You say you are comfortable in that you can easily remove your mainsail intact entirely zipped up all sweet in its stack pack. Flying the tri-sail just above the boom or even above the stackpack if left in place shouldn't create a stabiity issue as in to much heel, but you certainly would have to protect the pack by securing it with a series of half hitches just to keep it from being buffeted and torn up by the wind. On the other hand with the stack pack out of the way the tri sails clew and sheet are clear and functional. So lowering the aft end of the boom reduces your windage a bit more and may give you some benefit to tighten the tri sails leach depending on how it is sheeted. But this can also be achieved by tying a seatbelt through or near its clew and around the boom. So if I knew I would soon see 50 plus I would remove the main when it hits 25 just as you say and fly the tri sail in its normal place or otherwise choose to sail with bare poles. For a crusier under 45ft I see little benefit to having a rigid vang period, the only thing I can think of is if my topping lift happened to fail while the sail is down, then it could prevent damage to my dodger. That hasn't happened yet. I like mid boom sheeting just forward of the companionway, with a conventional purchase type vang. A purchase type vang rigged with a heavy duty spring-close type pelican hook can be quickly detached at the base of the mast and clipped to the rail to do duty as a preventer.

[barryglewis]

Who is recommending lowering the end of the boom and lashing it?
Could you post links if possible?

When we bought Risky Business (previously only used for racing) the only significant changes we made before our first offshore passage (Sydney Australia to Opua NZ, across the Tasman) were having the mast out and refurbished. We had a separate trysail track fitted and an inner forestay (now removable) fitted for the storm jib.

The storm jib got used that first trip!

The trysail was used several times later that year when I singlehanded from Fiji to NZ.
It would a couple of hours to furl the main and set the trysail, I did get faster with practise. The boom has both topping lift and a rigid vang. The trysail was set comfortably above the boom.
It always lived with its slides in the track at the foot of the mast, bagged with it's sheets attached. It has it's own halyard.
The cruising main we had made for our 2015 cruise (single handed Sydney to Fiji, crewed back) has 4 reefs, more or less equidistant. The trysail however has always stayed ready for use.