This bulletin board, hosted by the CDSOA, Inc., is the on-line meeting place for all Cape Dory owners and groups. We welcome everyone's questions, answers and comments about Cape Dory sailboat
The topping lift not only holds the boom at whatever level you want when stowed, but it also can be used in conjunction with the leech (roach) trim line when sailing downwind. The shockcord I used took all the slap out of the wire so I never had a problem with wear or noise along the roach (leech).
Don Sargeant
~~COQUINA~~
Greenwich Cove
DDon,
A topping lift is a line used to lift a boom. The 16" piece of wire you describe, I would simply call a stopper. It just supports the boom when the rig is stowed. A topping lift is usually adjustable, one place it is used is to support a spinaker pole at the proper height to allow the spinaker to fill properly. A down haul on the other hand would hold the spinaker pole down towards the deck, so that the spinaker when filling does not raise it up in the air. This means the topping lift and downhaul work in opposition to each other to maintain the pole in the proper position. Hope this helps...
Oh, by the way, communicating on the internet in CAPITAL letters is considered shouting!!
>>... and Hanalei is about as an original CD-30 as you can get!<<
I like the idea of keeping up the tradition of the original design. LIQUIDITY has roller furling now, but I've kept the option of using the self tending jib by leaving the boom and rigging an inner (detachable) forestay. I never use it, of course, but I like the idea that the original rig is available.
Ever since the beginning of time (more or less) I have used a pair of 2x4s connected with a single bolt to form a scissors like boom crutch for winter storage. This won't do a thing for sailing, but you can forget about topping lift failure and the subsequent damage during layup.
Hope this is useful.
Mitchell Bober
RESPITE
CD330
Yves,
The adjusting line for the topping lift is bitter ended at a eye on one side of the end of the boom, goes up to a single block at the end of the topping lift, down to a cheek block on the other side of the boom to a small cleat. The outhaul is completely seperate from the topping lift rig. Don't know if this is how it was done on all CD-30's, but my brothers CD-30B did have the same set up.
Dave Stump
Hanalei
Ahh.... excellent! Now I see what happened over the years. Easy to rectify. I also liked Catherine's suggestion of using a boom vang strap to the main halyard midway along the boom when in stowed mode... thanks Dave!
DDon,
I see you've gotten comments regarding the topping lift question, but no one said anything about the traveller. Here's my limited understanding of what a traveller is all about:
Depending on how strong the wind is, your sail is going to create more or less heel based on its wind profile (how fat it appears to the apparent wind). Also, the amount of lift your sail will produce will be affected by the amount of twist in the sail, since the air will see a different sail shape at the top and bottom of the sail. To control the twist and the sail profile, you can flatten it by putting the traveller under the boom (towards the lee), so the sheet pulls the boom from below it rather than from the side. You would do this on a windy day to cut down on twist and reduce the profile to reduce heeling. On a light air day, you would position the traveller toward the centerline of the boat to actually increase twist and wind profile to create more lift from the light air conditions.
Ron Flannery
CD33 Laurie Ann
BY THE WAY , WHAT IS A TOPPING LIFT ? I AM A NEOPHYTE AND DON'T YET KNOW THE PROPER NAMES FOR ALL THE THINGS ON A SAILBOAT SO PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME. IF IT IS WHAT I GUESS IT MIGHT BE I CAN TELL YOU THAT MY TYPHOON HAS A LENGTH (ABOUT 16") OF WIRE CABLE SPLICED INTO THE BACK STAY AT AN APPROPRIATE HEIGHT WITH A FITTING (DON'T KNOW IT'S NAME) THAT ATTACHES TO THE END OF THE BOOM AND SUPPORTS THE BOOM WHEN THE MAINSAIL IS STORED. THE BOOM IS ALSO EQUIPPED WITH A VANG WHICH IS QUITE A USEFULL GADGET AND THERE IS ALSO A TRANSVERSE TRACK WITH PULLEYS AND LINES TO ADJUST THE BOOM ATHWARTSHIP (?)JUST AFT OF THE COCKPIT COAMING WHICH I GUESS IS CALLED A TRAVELER BUT WHICH I HAVE NOT YET USED SINCE I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO MY SAILING FUN.