Dutchman Boom Brake

[Frenchy]

After getting conked on the head by the boom last year, I'm thinking of adding a Dutchman Boom Brake and wondering
what the combined wisdom of this board is. It does add a bit of complexity, clutter and expense. But I often go out with people
new to sailing and let them steer. In a following breeze, I'm edgy. Is this a worth while addition? - Jean

[tjr818]

That is the exact reason that we had our sailmaker raise the clew of our main by 10". There no appreciable loss of sail area and the back end of the boom is now safely above all heads. Something else to consider and there is no added clutter.

[Paul D.]

No experience with the Boom Brake, but I have seen them and heard they work well. Perhaps you could try first rigging a simple preventer and seeing if that works for you.

For downwind work on Femme, I have a 3/8 line at the ready to bend on to the furthest aft boom bail. I'll run that outside everything to a snatch block made fast to a bow cleat and back to the cockpit. I sometimes just run it through the cleat center hole. The boom stays put. Sometimes, in rolling but not serious sea conditions, I'll just run the line to the block fastened more midships on the rail and that holds the boom down more like a vang.

[Jim Walsh]

I don't use a boom brake and I was unfamiliar with the Dutchman so I checked it out online. The only brake I've seen demonstrated in use was the Wichard Gyb'easy. That unit seems to work well and has no working parts to fail.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dcYwwinFO4U

[Frenchy]

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts. I've decided to try the Dutchman, though it adds some clutter. A simple
preventer is a great idea for long distance sailing but I'd prefer something automatic where you don't have to go forward every time you change course. For my kind of coastal sailing where there are non-sailing guests sometimes helming the
boat, it makes sense, I think.
Another thing I like is that the Dutchman can be cinched down to act much like a vang and a preventer
too, with the added benefit that if the main was backwinded, there is some "give". The boom and the
deck padeye (mounted near the toerail) wouldn't see the same potential tearing-out force present if there were a rigid connection between the two. A convential vang puts a lot of compressive force on the gooseneck, too- another
thing I can eliminate.
I'm going to mount the Dutchman with heavy snap shackles at all attachment points so it can be removed
easily. Hopefully, it'll be a plus, despite the clutter and expense. Unfortunately, no decision is without its pluses and minuses. -
Jean

[Joe Myerson]

Jean-Pierre,
It sounds like you've already made your decision--and I think it's a good one.

While I do not have a boom brake on my 25D, George Van Drasek had installed a Dutchman on his CD33 Isabelle before she sailed to Bermuda and back. It worked very well and, if I remember correctly, seemed to be pretty much failure-proof.

Oh, I don't think we ever needed it to prevent a flying gybe, but it did still make tacking to windward easier and less scary.

Good luck,

--Joe