BOOM BRAKE

[Mike Holibar]

Hi all, I purchased a F39PHS about a year ago and have been delighted with her in every respect except for one little thing. Jibing the main. One unexpected jibe in the Marlborough Sounds (where winds can be shifty) dropped the mainsheet around my neck and almost took my head off. Controlled jibes above 10 knots apparent are difficult to manage single handed as hauling in the sheet tends to load up the helm and the boat tries to round up. My usual practice is to try and avoid jibing, instead rounding up and going about. I wondered if anyone has any experience with a boom brake on an F39 Main and if so, how it was set up. Something that would take the shock out of a jibe would be useful indeed. I do, of course, use a preventer from time to time but feel in the closer confines of harbour sailing, this could hamper maneuvreability. Thanks,

[AlanK]

On my F-33 I'm about to install a boombrake on my mizzen. The angles for the lines work and it reduces the danger of the mizzen lines for the helmsman. The main at the bow doesn't allow for appropriate line angles for a break so just preventers. Not sure how the F-39 is rigged but on the 33 the main sheet is no where near the cockpit.

[DaysailorJ]

I just installed a Dutchman boom brake on my F40/40. It's a bit tricky trying to get the right angles, as I wanted to install it on the boom around where the hard vang attachs, but I had to go aft about 18" on the boom to avoid the brake lines rubbing on the mainsheet or dorade cage. I am now playing around with trying to get the angle right fore and aft on the rail cleats. It looks like it will work out, but it does require lines extending out over the side decks, so I'll have to do some extra hooking on and off the jacklines when walking forward offshore. My hope is that the brake will prevent some of the trips forward, though, as I can control it's tension from the cockpit, and use it in place of a preventer.

When I had the boat offshore last year, I didn't like what happened when I was running too close by the lee with a preventer in place. One night, the main backed, and we able to jibe only because my preventer parted (some chafing was already on that line). I have heard that sails trying to jibe with preventers in place have caused knockdowns. With the brake in place, I can slacken the brake control line from the cockpit, and allow a "graceful" jibe, then retension the line to serve as preventer.

John

[Mike Holibar]

Allan, John, thanks for your replies. The F39 is a Schooner so the main is the after sail and the main sheet track runs along the aft cockpit combing just behind the helmsman. the fore mast is well forward, stepped in the anchor locker and is the smaller sail. Both have booms and there are no other sails except a reacher and spinnaker which are set from the main mast. I really like the idea of a "graceful" jibe, it has to be easier on the gear as well as the helmsman. Re jibing with a preventer, the admiral was at the helm one day in about 15 knots apparent and we were running with a preventer. This was our delivery voyage from Nelson to Lyttelton and the admiral was new to sailing. While I was visiting the heads I heard the ship groan, noticed the shadows move around the bulkhead and got all those feelings you get when something untoward has happened on deck. I shouted to put the helm hard over thinking that if we had enough forward motion we may be able to get the wind back on the right side of the sail. Feeling no apparent change I rushed on deck and was confronted by a sight that took a few seconds to register - we were sailing at about 5 knots ASTERN! BUT STILL ON COURSE. We put the helm over the other way and did a sort of three point turn and carried on our merry way none the worse for our experience. I take your point though that in heavier conditions the consequences could be more serious and the ability to handle an unexpected jibe gracefully would be preferable to loading up a preventer. Is there a brand or model of preventer that you can suggest- thanks,

[briank]

Hi Mike

Judging by the Picton/Lyttleton area that you sail in you must have bought the PHS39 that was in New Zealand? I live in the UK and bought the one that was for sale in Plymouth for some time. Not had the chance to sail her at all yet due to 'circumstances', but that could happen next week with luck, a delivery trip from Plymouth to Brighton.

It was good to see the postings about boom brakes. 'Paradox' came with a Dutchman and I've rigged it for the trip as I could see that gybing the main (I'm used to junks which make gybing stress free) a challenge. It looks as if it will do the job and indeed the boat has been from the UK to the Netherlands and to the Caribbean and back I believe with the same brake which still seems in good condition. It will be interesting to see if and how it works - the principle seems sound and I don't want to mess around with preventers.

What about the foresail - no problems with that?

And a quickie about the booms - do you trust the lazy jacks to hold the reefed sails up when sailing or do you additionally leave the boom-end 'topping lifts' attached? And if so, does they chafe the sails?

If you've found any other 'issues' with the PHS39 it would be good to read them so I can keep my eyes open. Already had to replace the gas system, swap the spikey TWC regulator for an Adverc and replace several dodgy charging cables. And unblock a blocked loo drain, yuk.

All the best from the almost summer side of the world,

Brian Kerslake
'PHS 'Paradox'
Plymouth (UK) en route to Brighton (UK)

[Michel]

I recognise the gybing issues on the F39PHS. I have an F44 which has quite a large mizzen. I've had no problems gybing as yet; I usually grab the whole bunch of sheet and drag it across behind the transom. But in 20 kts of wind, I sometimes fear that I'll break the sheet block attachment on the traveller when the sail bangs to the other side. I've got an abseil eight in my mast climbing gear, and I'm going to try it once soon as a boom brake for gybing. Added complication are my wishbones; I will have to attach the abseil eight at the end of a bridle below the wishbone, near the foot of the sail. On the main (forward) I have permanently attached preventers. But gybing is no problem there; the sail is always in the wind shadow of the mizzen when gybing.

Where do you guys have the dutchman brake? Halfway along the boom or further aft?

[AlanK]

I just rigged a preventer on my forward sail and a boombrake on my mizzen. I have mixed feelings about the preventer. It will generator a lot of force of the boom towards the gooseneck (my boomkickers act a bit as shock absorbers as this happens). I wonder if I it might be better to just let the thing gybe even with strong winds a lot spills as the boom swings 180 degrees (assuming I'm going downwind). I could rig a snubber on the main sheet (just going downwind) to absorb shock . Anyone have thoughts on the forces/tradeoffs? I'm just concerned about the gooseneck/mast and what will be the least damaging.
Alan F-33

[Mike Holibar]

Thanks for all the replies, it sounds like the "Dutchman" is the thing to have. I will have to find out if one can be purchased locally.
Brian, it is great to hear from another F39 owner. Could you give me an idea of how the boom brake is set up and controlled on Paradox. In respect of your other questions Fyne Spirit formerly "Foxtrot" was built in Falmouth and launched in 1989. Her age means there is a certain amount of refit work required and we have had some maintenance issues. The fridge packed up and had to be replaced, the watermaker has stopped working, the heads plumbing had too be replaced, alternator overhauled, wind generator replaced, a high discharge battery fitted up forard to supply the windlass- the wiring could not carry the current from the main batts, replaced the old sail covers with stack packs. Changed the propeller to a Kiwiprop which dramatically improved sailing performance. She sails really well and the upwind performance is considerably better than I expected.
A problem area for me was the attachment point for the fore sail boom vang at the base of the mast. It was shackled to a lug on a cast aluminium ring at the base of the foremast. The lug had been cracked for some time and carried away with a bang oneday when I was driveng her a bit hard. The boom shot up parallel to the mast, wrenching the goose neck fitting, and the sail wrapped itself around the mast breaking most of the battens.
Jibing the foresail is not too bad as she will sail up to 20 deg by the lee. When you jibe from this point the sail whips over quickly but tends to "feather" before the load comes on the sheet. Hovever the wind shadow from the main has some strange effects and can bring on a jibe when the FS is sheeted in a bit and this can make a bang too. Best off wind performance seems to be wing and wing with the foresail about 10Deg by the lee.
The stack packs lookafter the sail when reefed, it just drops into the envelope. The stack pack is suspended from the lazy jacks which at the moment are permanently set up. i plan to make them adjustable so I can roll up the stack pack and get the lazyjacks away. We don't have a topping lift, the main has one of those spring loaded vangs that supports the weight of the boom when the sail is furled. I am making a stainless steel band and bracket for the foremast vang. The location of the foremast so far forward does not lend itself to a preventer, but I wonder if a boom brake would be benficial there also. Best regards,

[Michel]

I just rigged a preventer on my forward sail and a boombrake on my mizzen. I have mixed feelings about the preventer. It will generator a lot of force of the boom towards the gooseneck (my boomkickers act a bit as shock absorbers as this happens). I wonder if I it might be better to just let the thing gybe even with strong winds a lot spills as the boom swings 180 degrees (assuming I'm going downwind). I could rig a snubber on the main sheet (just going downwind) to absorb shock . Anyone have thoughts on the forces/tradeoffs? I'm just concerned about the gooseneck/mast and what will be the least damaging.
Alan F-33

Alan, you're right about the forces on the gooseneck, but the main preventer should in my opinion not be used as a gybing brake, but just as a means to keep the boom out after you gybed. In that way the forces are acceptable. I always keep some slack in my preventer so the boom (wishbone in my case) can move a little bit.

[briank]

Hi Mike, Michel, etc

Mike, I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier to your various points but my wife and I were busy (fiinally) shifting Paradox from Plymouth to Brighton. What was supposed to be a quick trip turned into a mini-vacation with three nights at anchor in Dartmouth while fog sorted itself out, a couple of nights in the new 2012 Olympic marina in Portland Harbour while strong westerlies damped down (things kept breaking so I was following a policy of 'prudence') and a couple of nights anchored off Poole and the Isle of Wight. We had a couple of days of motoring into light easterlies, and a couple of days of downwind stuff in 10-15 knots. We much enjoyed the boat's performance although, being an 88 build, various things broke or were logged as needing refurbing.

We needed to get the alternator fixed before the trip and replaced the defunct TWC charger with an Adverc which seems to do a fine job of charging the four batteries. The mains charger was bringing them up to around 650 amps but the Adverc gets them up to 720 or so. The fridge has never worked so we used ice. There was a disintegrating cable between the start switch and the starter motor and the starter relay fell apart when touched. The gas system was condemned and replaced. So we've got a good few jobs done already.

Really impresed with the schooner rig - she sails like a witch, as Ian Tew who wrote the books 'Sailing In Grandfather's Wake' about his circumnavigation in a PHS39 says. Also handles superbly under power and the Maxprop (folding) is great in astern. Bit concerend about the Perkins Prima 50 which ran at 80 degrees at 1200 revs, 90 degrees at 1600 and 100 degrees at 1800. Kind of exopected it to settle at 90 whatever the revs?

So overall we are really pleased with our purchase, and very pleased too to be in touch with you so we can bounce ideas around.

You asked how the boombrake is set up. Now that I've used this 'Dutchman Boom Brake' I must say I'm impressed (this is on the main boom). The line is fixed to the port toerail about 18 inches aft of the mast (previous owner's installation). It goes up to the brake which is attached just forward of the kicker fitting (they say you can remove the kicker but I didn't tho' now think I could), two turns round the kind of 'Archimedes screw' on the brake (tried the max 3 but that was too much for the conditions) then down to a block in a similar position on the starboard toerail, then on to a 'handy billy' on the starboard quarter. There's a jammer on the bottom block of the billy but I found it better to use the aft cleat. I was wary of the device at first and avoided gybing, then thought what the heck, ignored the sheet, ducked and watched the main stay upwind. I then took the tension ever so slowly off the billy and was able to control the swing of the boom with ease. This was only in 10-12 knots so it remains to be seen how it functions in heavier conditions. But first impressions are good. The manufacturers say that instead of loosening the billy you can simply pull down on the sheet to auto-ease the friction in the brake. Seemed to make more sense to keep out of the way of the sheet and use the brake's own lines.

I reckon it would be good to have one on the foresail too, probably set up quite loosely, because as you say the foresail does tend to feather nicely once it's swung so far. Each brake would then have three functions - kicker, brake and preventer - it certainly works as the latter.

The model we have is the original; current models come with a knob with which you can get even finer control over the friction - Google 'Dutchman Boom Brake' and you can read the manual. Other manufacturers make rival products; this one is simple and effective it seems.

Thanks for pointing out that snapping lug issue - I'll keep an eye out for cracks.

Paradox has 'stack packs' too. These seem to be more DIY than pro, slung under the booms rather than attached to the stacks, with the cheeks of the sailcovers crudely hung from the lazy jacks. The previous owner clearly let them take the weight of the booms and sails. I was fairly happy to do that on the foresail but not on the main, as the upper part looks a bit dodgy. I left the main topping lift attached and sailed with two reefs in the main to be sure the topping lift didn't rub the sail. It's a pretty heavy boom to be suspended from a dodgy lazy jack.

I think I said that up until Paradox we've sailed schooner junks on western hulls so we're used to well-set up lazy jacks that really can take the weight of the sail and boom. That's the direction I'll be heading I think, although I can see that they do tend to spoil the shape of the Freedom sail. One to think about. If set up properly and run back to the cockpit the windward lazy jack can take the weight and the leeard one can be eased off. Works for junks anyway.

Some kind of stainless hoop over the helmsman's head is possibly a must too. This is pretty standard in western junks to keep the sheet away from the helmsman. Having seen the sheet whip across at what is a pretty low level before I got the brake working, I see it as a real danger. Seems daft to invest in expensive safety gear and ignore this very real hazard.

Regarding terminology, we're schooners, so I think foresail and mainsail is the way to go. To me only a ketch gets a mizzen.

Great to have an electric winch for the sails and another on the anchor - luxury after years of hauling both by hand. Great autopilot too - B & G Helmstar - didn't get to try the staysail or the Hydrovane. The Yeoman Chart Plotter was brilliant. i was thinking of replacing it with a modern chartplotter but having a GPS mouse on a real paper chart is so much better.

Keep in touch,

Brian Kerslake
'Paradox' F39 PHS (1988)
Brighton UK