Have you ever tried loosening these 2 screws on your 14.2's mast?

Winston29

Active Member
I'm curious if they lower the gooseneck/boom, or if they're fixed and designed to mount something to.... Like maybe a bracket for a whisker-pole.

I'm asking because I'm not at the boat, and I won't have a chance to be until the weekend. Otherwise I'd just loosen them and find out for myself. :D

In the picture, it looks as if the gooseneck is resting on the top screw.

- W
 

Attachments

  • fullsizeoutput_c75.jpeg
    fullsizeoutput_c75.jpeg
    107 KB · Views: 70
I have a boomkicker, so my gooseneck rests on a stop with a strap eye. A line is tied from the strap eye to the stirup of the boomkicker.
I use a similar stop above the gooseneck to keep the gooseneck from riding up the slot and falling out of the mast when the sail is lowered--(the boom will otherwise use the boomkicker as a fulcrum with the aft end going down into the cockpit and the forward end going up.

I don't know how my '85 was configured before a previous owner installed the boomkicker.

You could use those stops to hold the gooseneck in place in the mast slot. Maybe that is the intention.
 
I have a boomkicker, so my gooseneck rests on a stop with a strap eye. A line is tied from the strap eye to the stirup of the boomkicker.
I use a similar stop above the gooseneck to keep the gooseneck from riding up the slot and falling out of the mast when the sail is lowered--(the boom will otherwise use the boomkicker as a fulcrum with the aft end going down into the cockpit and the forward end going up.

You could use those stops to hold the gooseneck in place in the mast slot. Maybe that is the intention.

So if you lowered the stop that the gooseneck is resting on (the stop below the gooseneck), does the boom sit lower / closer to the boat? Lower in the slot?

I don't have a boom kicker. I installed a topping hoist (topping "line", actually, as I have no block on the mast) at the clew end of the boom to keep it from falling into the boat when I lower the main. Works great and doesn't act as a fulcrum.
 
Yes, if I lowered the stop, the gooseneck would sit lower in the slot. But I'd have to lower the boomkicker's lower mount as well-- and I don't remember if there is room below its current location for that.

Regardless, I like the boom higher in the boat, rather than lower, so that there is less of a chance of one of my kids getting a head injury. When I think about the physics involved: a higher boom should increase the chance of a knockdown since the center of effort on the main would have a longer moment arm on the center of lateral resistance and the force of the wind will be stronger further off the water (wind shear). But I'd rather have a slightly higher chance of knockdown than a much higher chance of getting struck by the boom.
 
I totally understand and agree about the boom height. At 6'4" tall, the high boom was a big selling point for me when looking at boats, as hitting my head (or chest, as the case may be) with the boom was a real concern.
I also didn't want to have to perform gymnastics every time I tacked.

Thing is, I'm having some trouble with my new sail. It's acting like it's too tall for the mast, even though it's within specs at 17'0".
I need to measure from the sheave to the boom and make sure the distance is 17'3". If it's less, I'll look into lowering the boom a little.

The old sail was 8.5" shorter than the new one, but there was extra space at the top of the mast, so the new one really should fit. It's puzzling.
 
I totally understand and agree about the boom height. At 6'4" tall, the high boom was a big selling point for me when looking at boats, as hitting my head (or chest, as the case may be) with the boom was a real concern.
I also didn't want to have to perform gymnastics every time I tacked.

Thing is, I'm having some trouble with my new sail. It's acting like it's too tall for the mast, even though it's within specs at 17'0".
I need to measure from the sheave to the boom and make sure the distance is 17'3". If it's less, I'll look into lowering the boom a little.

The old sail was 8.5" shorter than the new one, but there was extra space at the top of the mast, so the new one really should fit. It's puzzling.
It does sound like you might need to lower that stop a few inches. I wonder if the original owner rested the gooseneck on the lower stop and used the higher stop to keep the gooseneck from rising.
 
I wonder if the original owner rested the gooseneck on the lower stop and used the higher stop to keep the gooseneck from rising.

I never thought of that. I'll have to measure where those two screws are sitting. I remove the boom every time I take the boat out of the water, so it didn't occur to me that they would be used for that. Seemed like too much work to be a practical idea, but I could be wrong.
 

Back
Top