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Just a note. I went by a used bookstore here in town and picked up three books about sailing etc. One called "Yachts under sail"(copyright 1933)a collection of photos by Alf Loomis. They are all pre-1933. Lots of cool photos of wooden boats, many famous (Dorade,Vanite, some John Alden's). One of the others was "Speed Sailing" by Gary Jobson and Mike Toppa (copyright 1985) which looks good, but the one that really helped me was "Sail Power" by Wallace Ross. It was copyrighted in 1973, the same year as my MKII. The point is this: All the stuff he describes as cutting edge technology in 1973 is on my boat. I always thought my gooseneck looked weird, but until I saw diagrams in the 1973 book, I never realized I have roller reefing, the boom actually rotates by hand crank. That explains why no one ever put a boom vang on the boom. According to the book during those early years, a vang was attached to the toe rail from the boom if running downwind. Also, in the section on sails, the book explains in detail why I have a zipper in my main, as well as some other lines that help fine tune my sail (all my sails are original). My Genoa has some things that until I read the book would never have understood, Like leech lines for the Genoa that can run through the clew hole up to two leather securing buttons for adjustments. This is really exciting stuff for me because most of you guys have moved your mainsheets and travelers, upgraded boomvangs and have roller furling and not many of you or I had knowledge of a really original 1973 boat. I am enlightened, and excited. So much so that I am ranting. Sorry. Anyway, reading that book makes me realize what a truly good boat the old C&C27's are and what neat stuff they had on them. It makes me proud to own one. See you guys in the forum.
Congratulations on your enthusiasm and interest! However, you made an inaccurate assumption on the ingenuity of the sailors of the day.
Boomvangs were used, and I have an original "set". Two pieces of stainless sheet metal (I call it the "clamshell") were shaped to fit in the bolt rope groove, wrapped down the side of the boom, and joined underneth the boom with a nylon web strap. Friction prevented the device from sliding, and it is quite easy to attach or remove - in mere seconds. It works great, with normal attachment to the bottom of the mast. When the main was reefed, this device was removed, unsnapped from the upper block, and a device I could best describe as a horseshoe with curved in tips was slid onto the boom over the rolled up main. Rubber ball like tips provided the friction, and the boom vang was snapped to it.
I had an O'Day Daysailor that had the same system. It worked great.
Warren Smith (AKA Tropical Warren)
Serendipity
Galveston Bay, Texas
Sea Robin,
First I'm surprised that you have the original sail. That is pretty amazing. During Hurricane Rita I stripped my MKII, including the boom and that was when I discovered it still had it's roller reefing. I know of at least two boom types used on the early C&Cs for this and mine has the smaller, oval section boom section as opposed to the more rounded section I have seen on an earlier boat (Warren's). I toyed with the idea of getting it working again but after discussing it with a Triton owner with the same setup I decided to stick with what I have. At some point someone put a bolt with a hook for reefing on either side. That system is gone since the boom tended to roll excessivly. Congratulations on your find. Like the saying goes: "Want a new idea? Red an old book."
Mike M
SV Wind Horse
#375
Galveston, Tx
Mike M
SV Wind Horse
#375
Galveston, Tx
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