Topping Lift Options

[Neil Gordon]

And Joe, you do not need a double purchase to raise the boom with your topping lift. If you have the upper body strength to raise a full beer mug to your lips, you can raise the boom of a 25D (or a 27) without a complicated purchase, I promise you.

How about a 28? Joe's comment comes from seeing my setup, a wire topping lift that ends with about a one foot, 2:1 purchase. There's nothing complicated about it, just a few small blocks. Yes, I can lift the boom without it but adjustments are easier (particularly with one hand) this way.

[Carter Brey]

And Joe, you do not need a double purchase to raise the boom with your topping lift. If you have the upper body strength to raise a full beer mug to your lips, you can raise the boom of a 25D (or a 27) without a complicated purchase, I promise you.

How about a 28? Joe's comment comes from seeing my setup, a wire topping lift that ends with about a one foot, 2:1 purchase. There's nothing complicated about it, just a few small blocks. Yes, I can lift the boom without it but adjustments are easier (particularly with one hand) this way.

Nah, don't need no newfangled multipurchase on no 28-footer, neither.

I'm surprised, Neil. The character-building advantages of having to carry the weight of the boom without mechanical assistance should be apparent to any flinty New Englander. Then again, here in New York City, we're accustomed to lowering the boom on all kinds of floating assets.

Carter

[Joe Myerson]

John and Carter, you're undoubtedly correct; if I run the topping lift back into the cockpit via a turning block, I shouldn't need the tackle at the other end.

Neil, actually, my neighbor has a similar setup on his 27 -- he also has a pig tail rigged to his backstay, which he only uses when he's not sailing.

However, I wouldn't think I'd need a pigtail if I can lift the boom with the topping lift.

--Joe

[kerlandsen]

[img]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t107 ... G_0262.jpg[/img]

I do not adjust it when reefing, it pretty much has a slack setting for sailing and an up setting for the dock. One trick is to adjust it to prevent it from hitting the dodger at all costs.

Kyle

[Dick Kobayashi]

This isn't fancy but I run the TL from boom end to mast top and thence to a small cleat on the stern rail. The cleat is held in place with two SS hose clamps. The cleat is a less than five dollar cleat from WM. Not as slick as a line coming down the mast through a turning block and to a clutch or cam cleat near the cockpit BUT I hate adding stuff to the topsides that I stub my toe on, contribute to tangles and make holes. I got a nice 1/4 inch double braid line to CD specs PLUS six feet from Cajun Trading. This was the first season and all worked fine. A little awkward sometimes BUT SO EASY TO INSTALL.

[Warren Kaplan]

One day my wife fiddled around with a line that attached to a small cleat at the end of the boom. A few minutes later I was dousing the main and the whole boom came crashing down into the cockpit. As I looked back I saw this "thin line" streaming behind the boat that attached to the masthead. It was just out of reach, even with a boat hook. So there sat the boom in the cockpit with the mainsail draped over everybody and everything and I couldn't retrieve the wayward topping lift that was necessary to get things back in order. I also suffered the humiliation of two well meaning fellow sailors tacking over to my position to render aid, as the boat looked in shambles from afar.

I was never a great fan of my topping lift. It always seemed to chafe on the leech of the mainsail or otherwise get intimately involved with the backstay. The incident with the errant topping lift was the last straw.

I got myself a boomkicker. It holds up the boom. Makes reefing from the cockpit (my reefing lines come back to the cockpit just like in Carter's Delphine) an absolute breeze. I can reef in about 30 seconds!!

I think perhaps the only problem with the boomkicker is when I want to tension the vang. The kicker only bends so far and then no more. In all honesty I have not tried to reposition or adjust the kicker so that tensioning the vang (pulling the boom down) becomes easier. It may be a simple task to do. There are some things around the boat that I am, alas, very lazy about. This is one of them!

The kicker has eliminated the need for the topping lift and I certainly have no intention of going back to one.

[Dean Abramson]

I guess I must be missing something.

I have always set my topping lift to hold the boom at a point which is just a bit lower than where the boom sits when the sail is up. When the sail is up, there is tension on the leech, but when I lower it (to douse or reef), the boom drops just a wee bit. It is still above the heads of people in the cockpit, and the dodger. There is no drama at all.

It is true that when I reef, I am pulling the boom up, but I have not found that hard to do. I have a reefing winch on the boom, but I hardly ever use it. I do all of this at the mast, not in the cockpit. None of these lines are led aft; I prefer less clutter in the cockpit.

Our current boat has a wire TL which connects to rope which runs forward inside the boom to an opening near the mast. But I operated the same way when I had all-rope topping lifts on previous boats; these TLs were basically configured like halyards, all outside of the mast.

I set my topping lift in the spring, and leave it. What is the downside?

Dean

[JWSutcliffe]

Dean, I have the same experience with my topping lift as you - set it once and forget it. I am guessing that having our boom end forward of the helm and above my crew's head probably makes this possible.

[Dean Abramson]

Even on our first boat, a 20-footer, then on our 25D, we did it this way. I guess we could have had more room while motoring if we had lifted the boom. I was kind of afraid that if there ever was a mode when I did not have to duck, at some point I'd forget what mode we were in, and clobber myself.

Actually, now that I have moved my manual windlass back on to the foredeck, I might find next year that I do like to use my staysail boom topping lift to give me more room while doing anchor duty.

Dean

[Mike Wainfeld]

Same here-I was also a bit puzzled by the discussion as my topping lift is adjusted at the mast, as Dean has described, and then never has to be touched.

[Joe Myerson]

Dean and Mike:

I started this thread because I use my topping lift to take tension off the sail while reefing -- and I often reef while under way.

Like you, I used to keep the topping lift taut all the time, but, after reading other threads on this board, it's now my understanding that the leech mainsail leech should be bearing the weight when I'm sailing.

Apparently, from the length of this discussion that followed my posting, others agree.

Of course, I can't say that I've noticed a great leap in performance since I've started slacking my TL (a 25D is hardly a performance racer).

Still, this spring I plan to install a turning block and cleat -- if I can figure out what to do about the liner in the cabin.

--Joe

[Dean Abramson]

Joe,

My mainsail leech IS taut when sailing, and the topping lift has slack in it. It is only when the sail is dropped that the topping lift is taut and supporting the boom, in a position which is just a tad lower than where the boom hangs when the sail is up.

If I reef, the boom drops that wee bit when I lower the sail, and the TL is taut; but when I re-hoist, the weight is back on the leech, and the TL has some slack.

I admit that I believe I am still confused by exactly what the issue is. I just don't want you to expend money and effort and do boat surgery if you do not have to.

Best regards,

Dean

[mahalocd36]

Ditto Dean...

[Dick Kobayashi]

All, I know know more about topping lifts than ever before and may even be tempted to improve my cheapo system, I was especially impressed with John Vigor's comment that one can raise the boom quickly to spill wind in a squall (if you can get hold of the TL bitter end). I will ponder throughout the winter.

[mgphl52]

OK, we were probably in the minority but we did race KAYLA for several years (and I raced Brigitta a lot). When running down wind, lifting the boom with the topping lift and snugging with a preventer held the boom steady to maintain some sail shape, even with passing wakes, etc. especially in light air. If the down wind leg was long or we had crew, we would ease both the main halyard and the out haul to helped bag the mainsail to a nice advantage. If we were still racing, I would go for some sort of rigid vang or a boom-kicker. When we finally get to really cruise, we'll probably get one also.

-mike & Toni

PS: The "outhaul" comment is for others that are foot-loose.
PPS: We also have trophies to prove the effectiveness of these tactics...