A Simple Boom Vang?

Moderator: GreenLake

A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby UncleJohn » Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:02 am

My wife and I bought an '83 Spindrift DS1 earlier this summer. We've had it out almost every weekend since and have had a blast. Now winter is coming and I'm looking at a a few simple and relatively inexpensive modifications. Our boat is bare-bones stock - the only apparent modification is a pair of ribbons tied to the sidestays. But that suits us - we're old farts sailing for fun. We might enter a few open-class races with our local sailing club, but we're not out to wring every possible faction of a knot out of the boat.

So one idea is to add a simple boom vang to help tame the boom when reaching and running. I'm thinking 3:1 or maybe 4:1 would be appropriate for a set-it-and-forget-it vang. The standard Daysailer vang rig (at $100+) is really more than we're ready to spend. Duckworks offers Racelite parts for a similar rig at ~1/2 the cost ( http://www.duckworksbbs.com/ProductDeta ... e=RL-D-100 ) that looks to be a reasonable alternative. What do you DS pros think? Is the standard vang rig worth the extra cost, or is the Duckworks/Racelite vang a reasonable alternative for recreational sailers?

Next question: how to anchor it? Regardless of which vang rig we choose, it needs to be securely anchored. Our boom has a bail mounted 1/4 or 1/3 of the way aft of the mast (I can measure if it's critical) and angled appropriately. The mast end is more problematic. The base of the mast is occupied by a pair of cheek blocks for the halyards and I'd really rather not drill any more holes in that vicinity. I'd also rather avoid mounting the anchor to the deck. So I'm looking at using a track-mounted downhaul cleat ( http://www.drmarine.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DR206 ) to hold a loop of line that would run back around the mast and provide a shackle point for the vang. Anyone have a better suggestion?

Thanks,
- John
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby GreenLake » Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:27 am

The simple vang should be fine for downwind use. I don't think that the precise type of hardware is critical as long as the safe working load is equivalent. I personally don't like the "feel" of some of the racelite hardware, but it seems generally functional as far as I can tell.

For creating a rope bail around your mast, your idea of using a U-shaped loop of Dyneema (Amsteel) both ends of which you wrap around the front of the mast and then tie off at a cleat sounds workable. Given the angle, the majority of the pull is backwards rather than up, and by the time you've wrapped around the mast the downhaul cleat should be able to hold the residuals.

I think it's worth a try and if you run into any issues, you can always beef up the system then. (The first modification, if the basic setup doesn't work, would be to rivet an eye strap in the front of the mast, to give it a more positive location).
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby ChrisB » Wed Sep 25, 2013 2:22 pm

John,

The Duckworks boom vang looks very similar to the Racelite vang I'm using. Like you, I wanted to have a vang for downwind use but always resisted due to the ridiculous cost of lightweight dinghy vang systems. Somewhere along the line I inherited a hand-me-down lightweight vang (most likely for a smaller mainsail than the DS's). Racer's would hate it but it does the job fine for my purposes. I installed a bail on the boom end and an eye strap similar to Duckworks RL-313 {http://www.duckworksbbs.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RL%2D31x} on the front of the mast. A loop of spare line through the eye strap secures the "mast end" of the vang. It won't win me any races but it didn't cut into my beer money either.

Chris
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby UncleJohn » Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:34 am

Thanks guys -

GreenLake - I get what you say about Racelite gear, the look and 'feel' don't excite me either, but the one's I've seen seem to be well made and functional at a price way below the competition. Can you suggest another economical brand of hardware I should consider?

Regarding the attachment at the mast end - maybe I'm paranoid or overly cautious, but I hesitate to drill more holes in the mast if I don't have to and before I've had a chance to try the new gear. It seems like a track-mounted cleat with a double loop of line threaded through the open cleat base should allow me to non-destructively adjust for the correct angle and placement of the bail relative to the halyard cheek blocks without making a permanent commitment. As you suggest, once the bugs are worked out, I should have a better idea of where to mount an eye strap.

Chris - sounds like we have a similar approach to this. Glad to hear that this type of rig is working for you. And, as you say, it's nice to have a few bucks left over to take the crew out for dinner and a beer or two.

I really appreciate your input,
- John
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby GreenLake » Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:21 pm

John,

I think of all boat expenditures for the long term, so I'm happy to accept mid-priced items in many situations instead of always going for the "lowest". You might see whether you can get anything used - vangs like that don't have to be specific for the DS, so used hardware for them may show up in a few places.

When it came to a spinnaker pole, I did balk at the prices for complete solutions and made my own from a $5 piece of bamboo. But an important point for me was to prove that this is a feasible material (my spinnaker was free and is not class legal, so the pole didn't have to be either).

You get the idea. One source of gear I've used is http://www.fisheriessupply.com/.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby UncleJohn » Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:11 am

Greenlake -

You're right, of course. As the car guys on the radio say: "it's the stingy man who spends the most". You've sent me down the rabbit hole browsing a bewildering array of hardware and finding other moderately priced alternatives. I'll let you know when I come back up for air.

- John
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby GreenLake » Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:03 pm

OK. Let me know if we need to rig you one of those portable air pumps! :D :D
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby UncleJohn » Fri May 30, 2014 2:20 am

I managed to make it out of the rabbit hole without the portable air pump. ;-)

Tried out the new boom vang today in light winds and it seemed to work just fine. I ended up making a 4-to-1 cascade using a Racelite RL-D-100AL block/cleat and a couple tiny Ronstan blocks. Hope it works just as well when the wind pipes up.

Thanks,
- John
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby GreenLake » Fri May 30, 2014 3:21 am

WOW -- that took only 8 months :D :D :shock: :shock:

You are ahead of me. I'm still trying to figure out a reasonable vang for my purposes. I do race the DS (casually, not under class rules) and might want something I can try "vang sheeting" with. My stumbling block is the attachment. For ease of raising the bottom 4" of my mast are wrapped in an 1/16" aluminum sleeve. Any vang attachment would have to be to that sleeve and I just don't know whether it would be strong enough....
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: A Simple Boom Vang?

Postby UncleJohn » Fri May 30, 2014 8:50 pm

Hey now! I'm in Wisconsin - everything was frozen solid for 6 of those 8 months. ;-)


For the mast end of the vang, I tied a fairly tight double loop of line around the base of the mast between the tabernacle plate and the halyard cheek blocks. The cheek block brackets prevent it from sliding up. For yours, why not a small U-bolt through the deck just aft of the mast? Just be sure to back it with something big and solid so you don't pull it out with all that leverage.

- John
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