wrote:
Apparently you think the term "rigid vang" means essentially a solid, steel
pipe. It doesn't mean that at all. A Rigid vang "telescopes" and has springs
inside it.

All the ones I've seen also have locks.


...(stupid BS snipped) ...
I'm not surprised you don't know this. Maybe if you were other than an armchair
wannabe sailor...

Maybe if you sailed anything other than a cheap old beater, maybe if you
had some experience with other than obsolete gear, maybe if you hung
around sailors who know how to sail and how to rig their boats properly,
you'd know that solid vangs have locks.

DSK

No they don

DSK wrote:

Maybe if you sailed anything other than a cheap old beater, maybe if you
had some experience with other than obsolete gear, maybe if you hung
around sailors who know how to sail and how to rig their boats properly,
you'd know that solid vangs have locks.


Since you are always right, I can only surmise that my locks were lost
at the factory.

Cheers

Lots of these rigid vangs break, compared to rope vangs
which are more reliable, obviously. As OZ stated booms often
break right at the vang attachment point. This is a weak point
because of the leverage, as CM stated.

Nevertheless, a rigid vang could be used to support a boom
for hauling a person out of the water. I would not call a man
overboard, a heavy load. Many vangs feature a lock, as Doug
stated, to bypass the internal spring. From what I've read, this
is one of the failure points, along with the mast and boom
attachments flanges.

If a sail is hoisted, so that some or all boom lifting is provided by the
sail, the load at the end of the boom could be increased, probably
to the point where the vang could be disabled completely. The sail
would serve to carry the load normally carried by the topping lift.

For any kind of heavy load a sail, halyard, or topping lift is the
way to go. On larger boats with beefier systems, a rigid vang
should be robust enough to lift some substantial loads. However,
would you want to risk breaking it, if a wire topping lift was available?

"DSK" wrote
wrote:
Apparently you think the term "rigid vang" means essentially a solid,
steel
pipe. It doesn't mean that at all. A Rigid vang "telescopes" and has
springs
inside it.

All the ones I've seen also have locks.


...(stupid BS snipped) ...
I'm not surprised you don't know this. Maybe if you were other than an
armchair
wannabe sailor...

Maybe if you sailed anything other than a cheap old beater, maybe if you
had some experience with other than obsolete gear, maybe if you hung
around sailors who know how to sail and how to rig their boats properly,
you'd know that solid vangs have locks.

DSK

Lots of these rigid vangs break, compared to rope vangs
which are more reliable, obviously. As OZ stated booms often
break right at the vang attachment point. This is a weak point
because of the leverage, as CM stated.

Not if installed correctly. I had my Quick Vang boom bracket break loose from
the boom once as we crossed the starting line of a race. The reason for the
failure ..... the nitwit who installed the boom fitting attached it to the thin
walled boom with machine screws and no backing plate. I would be all of 2
threads had been holding that fitting on. I drilled and tapped proper sized
holes in a 5' long piece of 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum bar stock and placed it inside
the boom. Now those machine screws have much more meat to get a grip on and
the 5' length really spreads the load. We've done a couple of auto jibes in
big winds on downwind legs with nothing breaking since then.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"Trains are a winter sport"

On 19 Aug 2004 05:55:35 GMT, (SAIL LOCO) wrote:

Lots of these rigid vangs break, compared to rope vangs
which are more reliable, obviously. As OZ stated booms often
break right at the vang attachment point. This is a weak point
because of the leverage, as CM stated.

Not if installed correctly. I had my Quick Vang boom bracket break loose from
the boom once as we crossed the starting line of a race. The reason for the
failure ..... the nitwit who installed the boom fitting attached it to the thin
walled boom with machine screws and no backing plate. I would be all of 2
threads had been holding that fitting on. I drilled and tapped proper sized
holes in a 5' long piece of 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum bar stock and placed it inside
the boom. Now those machine screws have much more meat to get a grip on and
the 5' length really spreads the load. We've done a couple of auto jibes in
big winds on downwind legs with nothing breaking since then.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"Trains are a winter sport"


You could have stuck a piece of pipe in your boom. I have heard of
that being done

You could have stuck a piece of pipe in your boom. I have heard of
that being done.

The 1/2" square piece of aluminum bar stock was easier to cut than cast iron.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"Trains are a winter sport"

A fine idea.

"SAIL LOCO" wrote ...

I drilled and tapped proper sized
holes in a 5' long piece of 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum bar stock and placed it
inside
the boom. Now those machine screws have much more meat to get a grip on
and
the 5' length really spreads the load. We've done a couple of auto jibes
in
big winds on downwind legs with nothing breaking since then.

A fine idea, my ass!!

Any rigger worth his Salt would have drill thru the boom (2 holes)
Through bolted with the proper size bolt, lock washers and nut in place.

Ole Thom

Thom Stewart wrote:
A fine idea, my ass!!

Any rigger worth his Salt would have drill thru the boom (2 holes)
Through bolted with the proper size bolt, lock washers and nut in place.

With a compression fitting on the inside, of course.

DSK

Any rigger worth his Salt would have drill thru the boom (2 holes)
Through bolted with the proper size bolt, lock washers and nut in place.

LOL.................. That might work if your boom was only 2 feet long or if
you had 6 foot arms.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"Trains are a winter sport"