Capt. Mooron wrote:
Doug I didn't get your last post... can you repost it so I can attack your
position with some decorum... Thnx ;-)

Sorry, it's gone with the wind. However, I can probably remember the
gist of it well enough.

You said that the shrouds "disperse" the load, which is crazy. Shrouds
keep the mast from falling over, at the cost of placing the mast under
compression. A side load on the mast increases tension on the shroud,
which increases compression on the mast. So, the compression on the mast
will *always* be greater than the weight load placed on it... and that's
not taking into account the static tension on the rig (pre-load).

The difference between a boom holding a heavy weight, supported by a
topping lift; and one supported by a solid vang is this:

The topping lift will transfer the weight to the masthead, increasing
compression on the mast. The shrouds keep the mast from falling towards
the weight, increasing compression on the mast. The boom is in
compression, keeping the weight from swinging in towards the mast. The
compression on the mast & tension on the shrouds place a torsion load on
the hull.

The solid boom vang will be in compression. The boom will be in torsion
between the weight pulling down and the vang pushing up. The mast will
have a torsion load on it from the gooseneck to the lower boom vang
swivel fitting.

Last but not least, booms supported by solid vangs will (if properly
engineered) hold up weights at least as heavy as a medium size adult.
Ask me how I know this for a fact!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King