Laser boom gooseneck plug hole keeps widening why?

Jenova

New Member
Does anyone know why the hole in gooseneck plug on boom keeps widening. Where is the pressure coming from to cause this widening.
My 14yr old son sails a laser radial, we’ve just had the gooseneck plug replaced, but in a few weeks the hole is widening again.
Is it how our outhaul is rigged?
I don’t sail, but I am solely responsible for helping my son with sailing, I am totally self taught from utube videos on laser rigging, so please be nice,
 
Is the vang key the older "straight" model or the newer "kinked" type. The straight type has always looked inefficient to me. On my boat I have both there but use the kinked and ans save the straight for emergencies.

Steve and Alex
 
Not sure why the vang key could effect wear on the gooseneck plug.
Does the mast rotate freely? Is the mast base damaged or grit/sand in the bottom of the mast tube causing friction and stopping mast rotating. Or has there been a bad repair to the gel coat in the mast tube stopping rotation
 
It is the newer kinked model. So are you saying the pressure on the gooseneck boom hole comes mostly from the vang?
The gooseneck plug we removed had a widening that looked like the gooseneck on mast slopping down. Our outhaul pulley hangs to the right of the gooseneck, would it help if I moved this pulley to hang directly below the gooseneck?
Not sure why the vang key could effect wear on the gooseneck plug.
Does the mast rotate freely? Is the mast base damaged or grit/sand in the bottom of the mast tube causing friction and stopping mast rotating. Or has there been a bad repair to the gel coat in the mast tube stopping rotation

This is something I will check, the mast hole is quite big, the mast is not snug in the mast hole, there is a side movement/ wobble if you try move mast, so I imagine it does rotate easily. I will check for grit & check mast base . Thankyou
 
Not sure why the vang key could effect wear on the gooseneck plug.
Does the mast rotate freely? Is the mast base damaged or grit/sand in the bottom of the mast tube causing friction and stopping mast rotating. Or has there been a bad repair to the gel coat in the mast tube stopping rotation
The widening of the gooseneck plug is a vertical widening not horizontal though, so if mast rotation is a problem as well, wouldn’t I see a horizontal widening of gooseneck plug ?
 
The pressure comes from the sheet and (mostly) the vang, but the type of vang key has nothing to do with it. Theoretically, if the outhaul purchase is rigged on the mast/gooseneck instead of the middle of the boom, it exerts extra forward force, but not that much that it would deform anything in a short time.

The plug hole does inevitably widen over time (that's years), but a quick vertical change sounds anomalous. I can't think of anything else than something how the rig is handled on shore. Plain sailing shouldn't cause it.

On the other hand, it's probably a problem that doesn't cause other, more serious problems.

_
 
By the way, has the hole widened upward or downward, or both? (Measure it!)

_
 
The old plug we replace had a very pronounced vertical downward slide deformity, so much so that I didn’t pay attention to any other widening. See photos for what has happened after a maybe 6 sails since new plug was fitted, the downward slide deformity is appearing again
Thankyou
 

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Could it be that the knot we placing in outhaul through deck eye is to far, thus allowing boom to slip forward on gooseneck when kicker is off?
 
Thankyou all for replying, I’m learning a lot more about possibly where problem may be occurring.
To summarise so far, when my son is pulling on the main sheet, I think ( I maybe wrong) somehow the boom is moving off the gooseneck ( not staying securely on it tight against mast) this may be causing the gooseneck to stay in a vertical position, which is causing the vertical deformity seen in gooseneck plug??
If you think this is the issue, what can I adjust when we rigging to stop this happening.
He has a 6.1 outhaul system we got from rooster & Xd vang. I’ve copied the rooster video for rigging outhaul & vang. No where in videos is there any tips to stop boom coming off gooseneck, which has happened on a small number of occasions to my son ( age 14)
I’m wondering what we are over looking when rigging boom?
 

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Doesn't have anything to do with the outhaul, the loads on it are nearly negligible in this context. In general, this has nothing to do with the boom coming off the gooseneck, quite the opposite! The vang is the only thing that pushes and twists the boom against the gooseneck hard enough to cause anything like that. It may be that the plug material is softer than usual.

I can't measure the dimensions off the pictures right now, but the deformity doesn't look that dramatic. It doesn't affect tuning/ boatspeed, nor will it lead to a breakdown. Measure it now and after some more use; if it doesn't get worse, forget about it. If it does, you might want to contact Rooster (or wherever you got the plug).

_
 
Jenova, you say the boom has come off of the gooseneck - while fully rigged or under way?

It looks to me as though, as I think you are also suggesting, that the deformation is happening as the boom slides almost all the way off the pin and gets cocked a bit, and when forward pressure is reapplied by vang, etc. the pin stays cocked and deforms the boom end.

I would suspect that the 'fully off' setting of the vang is too loose, allowing the boom to partially or fully come off the gooseneck.
 
Does the gooseneck pin move up and down or is it frozen in the straight out position? Is should move up and down.
 

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