Raising boom and rigging bimini on a CD 28?

[Patrick Golden]

Hello -

I've been looking at a very nice CD 28 (thanks for all who offered advice), but have a question about the feasibility of potential modifications.

One of the concerns I have is the height of the boom. I'm about 6'5". Has anyone had any success with raising the boom a bit to give more headroom? How significantly did it affect the sailing performance? (I'm not envisioning raising it to allow a full standing room for me, by the way!)

I was also wondering about rigging a bimini for sun protection -- with or without a raised boom. I see in the archives that some have done so. Does anyone have any pictures of a 28 with a bimini you could point me to?

Thanks in advance for all the advice of the list.

Regards,

Patrick



pgolden@widomaker.com

[Larry DeMers]

Well, raising the boom will necessitate the shortening of your sail, as the sail luff tension would be all wrong if you did one without the other. Of course then if the sail is cut down a bit, you will have to replace the reefing points..etc. So the total cost would be significant..including the cost in boat speed (you would be removing sail from the more powerful portion of the sail)and acceleration (less significant, but worth considering anyway).

Just a thought..

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

Hello -

I've been looking at a very nice CD 28 (thanks for all who offered advice), but have a question about the feasibility of potential modifications.

One of the concerns I have is the height of the boom. I'm about 6'5". Has anyone had any success with raising the boom a bit to give more headroom? How significantly did it affect the sailing performance? (I'm not envisioning raising it to allow a full standing room for me, by the way!)

I was also wondering about rigging a bimini for sun protection -- with or without a raised boom. I see in the archives that some have done so. Does anyone have any pictures of a 28 with a bimini you could point me to?

Thanks in advance for all the advice of the list.

Regards,

Patrick

demers@sgi.com

[Tim Akers]

Hi Patrick,
This is just the question that I have been pondering on my CD28. I live in Ft. Lauderdale where a bimini is a necessity.

After a long night (and a few scothces) with a good friend who is a rigger last night, we came up with a good solution. Its a little expensive but solves the problems.

My mainsheet is atached to the end of the boom and splits to either side of the transom. I am going to move the sheet to just forward of the companionway and install a traveler there. That clears the way for a shade (bimini). Then I plan to raise the boom and shorten it about a foot. The loss of sail area will be made up with a new fat head (extended roach), full batten mainsail. This puts the aditional sail area up where it is more effective anyway.

This sounds like a lot of work but its not really too bad. I need a new mainsail anyway. My dodger is tall enough to stand under, which I really like. I just cant close haul the sail without hitting the dodger. So this way, we'll keep the dodger, add a bimini and increase the performance of the mainsail.

I know this doesnt address how to move the boom. We will figure that one out latter. Thought you might be interested.

Good Luck!

Tim Akers
akerst95@bigplanet.com

Hello -

I've been looking at a very nice CD 28 (thanks for all who offered advice), but have a question about the feasibility of potential modifications.

One of the concerns I have is the height of the boom. I'm about 6'5". Has anyone had any success with raising the boom a bit to give more headroom? How significantly did it affect the sailing performance? (I'm not envisioning raising it to allow a full standing room for me, by the way!)

I was also wondering about rigging a bimini for sun protection -- with or without a raised boom. I see in the archives that some have done so. Does anyone have any pictures of a 28 with a bimini you could point me to?

Thanks in advance for all the advice of the list.

Regards,

Patrick

akerst95@bigplanet.com