What is this on my Boom?

jmend7

New Member
Hi from Hawaii. I just bought a used laser and the previous owner handed me two booms. Both are for the laser, yet the nicer and complete boom setup has a mysterious bracket with a small cutout in place of my boom vang strap. It has the RWO manufacturer symbol on it yet I can't seem to find any info on this part at the RWO website or the web in general. Two sailing buddies of mine are dumbfounded as well. The other boom has the strap but is missing a few key components. Worst case scenario I pop the rivets and replace it with the spare vang strap from the other boom.

Thanks

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This is a (very) old vang attachment if I recall correctly. I have seen a couple of these over the years. You will almost certainly find that the boom is not sleeved around that fitting so will be very bendy when you get any tension on.

AlanD will probably be able to expand a little more with his wealth of experience in the class.
 
Thanks very much Jeffers... I'll see what happens once I get my new vang set. I'm not doing much else than having some fun around the island. Worst case I'll just swap the thing.
 
That's exactly what it is... I have an early laser (#1164) that has that attachment. I never changed it because I just hack around. I have a newer boat that has a different setup.
 
Thanks very much Jeffers... I'll see what happens once I get my new vang set. I'm not doing much else than having some fun around the island. Worst case I'll just swap the thing.

FWIW, based on my own experiences-- depending on the wind you sail in and the purchase of your vang (old 3:1, or newer with more) ... you might consider putting the boom sleeve in there when or if you swap the fitting. In doing the riveting, you're already doing most of the work to get the sleeve installed. I paid like $35 for it from APS. I only bring it up cuz I also sail an old boat which didn't have the sleeve in the boom, and I upgraded from the old 3:1 vang. With the additional purchase, it was EASY to bend that boom a LOT. And in looking at the bend in it, I decided I would not use very much of the tension available with the additional purchase, til I got the sleeve in. There's more than a few threads about booms broken by the vang, or at that vang strap attach point; even the new reinforced booms, but plenty of the older non-reinforced ones. It being always WAY easier+cheaper to reinforce something before it breaks, than repair it after, it doesn't screw up an otherwise nice day on the water, and I imagine the boat doesn't handle worth a **** once the boom's broken ;) .

Just passing it along FWIW.
 

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