How far away should be harness lines apart attached to the boom?
now I see from forum post that my setup was incorrect.
I use to have 20 cm between but here is close to zero ...

I have always had mine spread a good distance apart. My reason is to spread the load from my fat guts further along the boom and not just concentrate it in one small area.

Macroscien said...

Davage said...

I have always had mine spread a good distance apart. My reason is to spread the load from my fat guts further along the boom and not just concentrate it in one small area.

ok make sense for me...I did broke a few booms already... any other suggestions ??
if there is rule of thomb -wave sailors close together , race sailors - apart?

i am going to suggest that for bigger sails they can come closer together but for smaller sails (i.e. more wind) you may want to move them further apart for greater control

Mux said...

I what works for you.

that is my problem ..everything works for me and need to learn hard way later...
much easier is to get good teacher, then stick to rules that works for pro
I learned that searching my own way just takes too much precious time !
I sould be jibing and waterstarting 5 years ago but nobody told me EXACTLY how it works

For freestyle/ wave I think close together as you want to have more manoeuvrability when hooked in, and for blasting/ speed you want them apart for more control/ stable rig, a pull on wider area. imo

Bump and jump, wave sailing a hand width apart works well, you need to be able to rest your arms when they are not really needed, used Guy Cribbs suggestion and it works well, measure distance from mast to clew around your boom with tape measure and the centre of your lines will be 1/3 from your mast, slight adjustment dependent on sail type. You should be able to sail one handed easily otherwise your lines are not set right IMO

I tried the Guy Cribb method, lost the cheap elastic cord not long after. Couldn't remember where my starting point was when I changed up a sail and remembered (read) somewhere along the way to pick up the rig with one finger (or a loop of string) while it is rigged and on the ground via the boom.

When you find the central position (balance point) on the boom where the mast and clew rises evenly that is your centre position for your lines disregardless of how wide I recall it saying. It's been a good starting point for me and can be done in seconds. I found tweaks have only been approx about an inch, this has worked for my 6.4 and 7.5 sails. Haven't tried it on my 5.8 coz I only just got it.

Oh and I like my lines a little over two fists wide.

Dunno if this theory is correct, but it seems to work OK for me.

There is no correct way to set them up. For slalom just look at the difference between Antoine Albeau who has his lines touching almost, then look at B Dunkerbeck who has his lines a mile apart. Both are very fast its just personal preference.

firiebob said...

Phyx1u5 said...

There is no correct way to set them up. For slalom just look at the difference between Antoine Albeau who has his lines touching almost, then look at B Dunkerbeck who has his lines a mile apart. Both are very fast its just personal preference.

+1

Personally I have mine 3 fingers apart, suits me. I sail a slalom board in the ocean and have had race, slalom and no cam sails, same same

Subsonic said...

I havent seen a boom break at the harness lines (yet)

I hit a big fish once downwinding and stopped dead, big get off resulting in mild whiplash, my carbon boom cracked where the lines attached

The good news, my board didn't break in two

Well there ya go, boom snapping is a definite possibility if the lines are close.

Yep what Phyx1u5 said, its whatever suits the player, I've noticed a lot of Slalom sailors (in WA at least) like some distance between them but i've also noticed Antoine Albeau has them closer together too, and he's fookin fast!

I was told, as a beginner, that the closer together the quicker the control you have sheeting in and out - better for the more experienced. Further apart made the rig more stable, for beginners, but was less responsive when needing sheet in or out quickly. This doesn't obviate the need to have them centred about the balance point though.