You should have a downhaul line running The through ring on the sliding gooseneck. This line will keep the boom from sliding up. Set the boom height when the main is at full hoist. Raise sail and set line so boom keeps main about an inch-ish from full hoist. This is so the line length allows you to increase/decrease luff tension as wind speed increases/decreases (same idea as adjusting jib halyard tension). With the downhaul line set the boom will default to an appropriate height when reefing. Picture attached showing boom downhaul line setup on my old M17 (line highlighted in red). I recommend the line runs to the cockpit (not pictured) as luff tension is actively done as wind speed changes. This setup is identical on M17s, M15s and Sage 15s. :: Dave Scobie :: M6'8" #650 :: Baba 30 #233 DEJA VU :: former owner SV SWALLOW - sv-swallow.com :: former owner M17 #375 SWEET PEA - m17-375.com :: former owner M15 #288 SCRED - m15namedscred.wordpress.com On Thu, Oct 6, 2022, 09:09 Ernst van Gulijk <Ernst@nteglobal.com> wrote:
One thing I did run into after having read through the various posts on this topic is the following; where to place the boom relative to the mast when shore-launching with a second reef in the main? In other words, when setting up from scratch - and the sail not reefed - raising the main will result in the boom arriving at somewhat fixed point on the mast. A couple of weekends ago, when preparing to launch the boat, the conditions suggested I'd better start out with a second reef in the main. In going through the (normal) set up procedure, I came to realize that I could place the boom essentially anywhere on the mast, and wondered how to approach this. In the end I somewhat guessed on a location, one where the boom wasn't going to hit me in the head, but also no so high that the remaining portion of the sail was 5 feet above the cabin. Is this as simple as marking the mast with some type of label to indicate where the boom would/should normally interface with it?
