Geezer Rigging

Clyde

Member
My daughter's and I raced (locally) and sailed for many years in the NYC area. Except for minor forays to the North Carolina coast the boats (a 1973 and a 1977) have not been actively used and hang from my garage ceiling I do have an electric hoist) in the Lake Norman, NC area where I now live. I gave up sailing the 'fish because I wanted a boat I could sail "in" not "on". My 7 year experience with a 17 ft O'Day Daysailer ended in December with my donating the boat. So I don't want to give up sailing as long as I have 2 Sunfish. I have a great launch area about a mile from my home and do have a trailer.
My question is how best to rig the sails for winds in the 5 to 10 - sometimes 15 - mph range ? I obviously am too old to duck under a very low spar so am looking for advice on the placement of the gooseneck and halyard in a permanent or average setting. I won't be sailing in heavy winds. By the way, I do have two almost new regulation sails - also one new mast - and the boats are in pretty good condition for their age.
So. Your thoughts please.

Clyde
 
Clyde,

If you are not racing, I would set the gooseneck at about 18" back from the intersection of the boom and gaff and then simply experiment with the halyard attachment point to get a boom height that is what you are seeking. Then remember to ease the mainsheet quite a bit each time you tack to allow the boom to pop up and give you more headroom when you tack.
Also, don't tie a boom vang too tight as the boom will not rise when tacking.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
22 inches back and tie the halyard about 5 rings down, close to the aft edge of the coc
IMG_3304.JPG
kpit.
 
22 inches back and tie the halyard about 5 rings down, close to the aft edge of the coc kpit.
I see 5½ rings down, which looks like the ideal geezer rig. But what does the bolded part mean?

"...close to the aft edge of the cockpit..."
 
By "close to the aft edge of the cockpit" I mean that when the gaff is laying on the deck, with the mast through the gooseneck, the halyard will be tied to the gaff close to the aft edge of the cockpit.

30725908_1709947949085308_3862901235359154176_n.jpg
 

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