"David&Joan" wrote in message
news:fhHTd.158434$6u.147000@fed1read02...
(clip)
So, the point is that preventers need to be stout, but maybe not so stout.
At some point of wind and sail you are going to break the boom,
particularly
if the preventer is only rigged to one point.

Probably the best scheme would be to rig the preventer from the toe rail
to
the boom in multiple parts at two points- midboom and at the end. With
this
rig you have several parts so you can use reasonable sized line and blocks
and the stress on the boom is spread out along its length.

Any others have thoughts?

David



On our boat, and many others, I'm sure, the boom sheet is at the end of the
boom.

While I'm sure there must be failures in the records, I don't know of any
booms sheeted this way which have failed due to overload. If that's where
the sheets can take all the stress, it ought to be the stoutest part of the
boom. Ergo, that's where I have my preventer.

Now, whether or not the places I put the other end, or the tackle used, is
going to be strong enough to manage a forceful attempted uncontrolled jibe,
I've not yet tested. Generally, unless it's not working for the geometry at
the time, I put it on the genoa track shackle loop which I can slide
anywhere up to where the genny block is at the time. Otherwise I carry it
forward to a stanchion base (never having had it out far enough to warrant
taking it to the bow). I also use this method to provide a three-point
system, giving me downhaul control even well out.

The tackle appears to be a prior vang. The way our cockpit is set up, the
only way a vang could work is if there were no bimini - and there *is* a
bail on the boom in the location where a vang would make sense. Of course,
I could put the preventer there - but I don't like the thought of a bent
boom in the case of violence :{))

L8R

Skip and Lydia


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain