Motors are nicecjdavia said:Hi everyone,
We just got back from Carters lake in Georgia and I wanted to tell everyone that the boomkicker performed without a hitch. My wife and I were able to easily drop and bungee the sail to start paddling toward the dock.
Unfortunately we were paddling against the current and we were not getting anywhere. So we raised the sail, got a bit closer, and had a second opportunity to test out the boomkicker. Mr. Boomkicker came through again, but my score for pleasurable returns to the dock is now oh-for-three.
It looks like my next investment will need to be a small trolling motor... or a divorce attorney!
cjdavia said:For those interested in installing a boomkicker - my wife and I just installed model K0312 on our 1st generation 14.2. The boomkicker manufacturer site was http://www.boomkicker.com, but we purchased the same model from layline (http://www.layline.com).
Installation was a breeze, but I wanted to group to know that in order for it to fit properly (to the inside of the boom vang) we had to cut the support rods down 1.5 inches (for a total of 28.5 inches) with a hacksaw. A nice hint is to wrap tape around the rods where you are gong to cut, this will help reduce splintering. The tape goes on before you use the saw. I misread the instructions and thought the tape should be applied afterwards.
I was a little concerned that my trimming would affect its strength, but during dry-rigging the boomkicker had no problem holding our boom and sail.
Now we can't wait to try it out in the water. The sails and boom would always get in our way when we had to paddle back to the dock.
vomega said:I installed the boomkicker on my Omega 14--without modifications. According to Boomkicker, the first unit was designed for the 14.2 but maybe they meant the Omega. Anyway, it works as great as others have attested to.
I've also installed slugs and slides on the mainsail on 19" spacing. I used the shackles from Sail Brite that don't require grommets. The shackle hank snugs up against the bolt rope, which nicely distributes the stress. Avoiding grommets means you can easily go back to the bolt rope groove for racing.