lines on boom for new Mac 26X owner

[Captain Wm Hook]

Ahoy....Just purchased a 26X for wife's B-day. We sailed her once w/ old owmer for 30 min. We are setting her up today for maiden solo sail tomorrow.

Here's the rub.... We have lines on the back of the boom that seem to loop around and go to grommets in the leech of the main 1 & two battens up...what's the use of these? where do they go????

The outhaul has been identified.

There is also a block & tackle system that goes to the bottom of the mast from the boom and connectes into a 1/2 ring on the bottom of the mast. and one "free" block on the same 1/2 ring...what goes there??

[March]

The second question--that's the boom vang. You can use the blocks to make sure that the boom is pulled downward and the main sail doesn't balloon excessively. I am not really good at finetuning it--usually I keep it as tight as possible. I would be interested in some pointers, too. How much of a difference does it make?
For the first question--sounds like the factory reefing points?

[Captain Wm Hook]

Thanks for the help. I do know about the boom vang. It's the extra block on the same that I'm scratching my head about. I wish someone had a photo of their boom I could look at.. the owners manual does not show a good view of the end and the lines and cleats in use.

[Catigale]

.... We have lines on the back of the boom that seem to loop around and go to grommets in the leech of the main 1 & two battens up...what's the use of these? where do they go????

The outhaul has been identified

I think the lines you are describing are your outhaul - you tie it off on the port side of the boom on an eye, then through the leech grommet, then cleat it on the starboard side to adjust the tension of the foot. A real simple upgrade is to put a small block on the eye and gain a 2:1 advantage in tensioning power on the outhaul...


Welcome aboard, Captain and Admiral!!

[Captain Wm Hook]

I have the outhaul located and it has a pulley system for 2:1.......I know where the boom vang is AND figured out that the block on the same "D" shaped harness is for the halyard.

What still has me puzzles is this? There are two MORE pulleys bolted to the mast. through these, run a loop of line up through two SS grommets....... .....I think I just hit on it gentlemen, It's the rear of the reefing system THANK-YOU and I'll post tomorrow how the maiden/solo sail went, (HOPEFULLY )

[Chinook]

Yes, I think you've got it. Single line reefing system that comes in pretty handy when the breeze kicks up.

[Harvey]

This morning I read through the new msgs, including those from/to Cpt. Hook and his new X. This afternoon I stopped at the Detroit Lake launch ramp and saw a shiny X at the dock. Since in two years I have seen only one other M or X on the water, I quickly parked and went down to appreciate the wondrous vessel. It turned out to be none other than Cpt. Hook, to my surprise.

He sure found a nice X. Very clean, almost no signs of wear for a 7-8 year old boat. It has all the nice-to-have additions one could want, stuff that will take me years to set up on my X. And the best part is that Cpt. Hook and wife impressed me with what very nice people they are to share our interest in Mac sailing with

Welcome aboard, Adm. and Cpt. Hook.

Harvey

[Captain Wm Hook]

Thanks again, Harvey! I really appreciate your advice and pleasant humor! Hope to see you again....maybe in the water. That would be TOO cool to see you and your admiral & pup on the Puget Sound this summer. PM me when you are taking your Mac North.

[macsailor]

generally speaking.you tighten your vang, until the second batton from the top is fairly parelell with the boom

[Don T]

Welcome,
Nice, another Oregon MacXer. I say welcome again to Oregon waters. I have only sailed Detroit lake twice and that was in 97-98. The second time the water was real low and ther were stumps everywhere. Couldn't get into the marina.