Boom preventer

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I currently have a snap shackle at the end of my vang so that I can easily clip it to the stanchions for a "poor mans" preventer. This goodoleboat setup looks very promising and I'm interested in anybody's experience trying to implement it.

I understand Duane's reasoning for not wanting to use a single line since we also use our open transom all the time for beach boarding, etc. But I wonder if you make it two separate lines, whether it will still be so snazzy. Afterall, you will lose the "automatic" nature of the system by using two lines. Perhaps there is still some way to get the line out of the way when you don't need it without having to cut the line into two. Maybe by mounting one or both of the rear blocks with a snap shackle so that the whole assembly can be moved forward and to one side?

Also, perhaps by doing it that way, you could just snap it onto the rear cleats without having to devise a new mounting point?

[Frank C]

... However, doesn't the leeward sheet/vang need to be free to pivot well outside the lifelines? ....

It appears from the attach points in the diagram that, in their worst case, these vang/preventers would extend vertically upwards, parallel to a stanchion but never extending outboard of the lifelines ... making them pretty ingenious. The extra purchase also makes a moderately sized line ample to handle the loads of the backwinded main in an "oops scenario."

... I might skip the single line and have a separate one on each side to avoid the line crossing the cockpit. ...

But, the single line is a terrific rig to help reduce the mess caused by lots of extra purchase ... as the article mentions, each tackle plays housekeeper to the other's spaghetti. Agreeing about not blocking the transom, I might just lead the line f'wd around the mast, maybe even all the way f'wd to the forestay tang.

But - now this brings to mind the alternative preventer line ... just a single longline from portside hip stanchion, along the rubrail to the forestay tang, back along the rubrail to the starboard hip stanchion. With a snap shackle on each end, either end of this line can clip to the mainsheet bail as a preventer while its other end is clipped (or half-hitched) to the stern cleat. If led a little differently (say to the vang bail), it could provide down-force for the boom along with a modicum of boom management. I think we're led astray by the extra purchase of these two vangs ... it is still 50% shy of a Garhauer rigid vang's 12:1 grunt, which amply emulates aspects of a traveler.

The twin-vang rig blocks my access to the bow, though I suppose it could be mitigated by shackling to an inboard padeye. On balance, I think the goodOleBoat rig is too much added line for my preference.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Maybe they could be led to the bottom attachment point for the baby stays and still be effective yet not in the way going forward. I leave my baby stays attached all the time and I am used to stepping around them. You could just come back from there to a stopper on each side of the companionway for easy adjusting. I hate having to unzip my dodger window to adjust my current vang as it is. I've got sheet bags there that will easily deal with the line tails. I could probably even come up with a single line system that crossed over just inside the front dodger window above the companionway hatch.

[Frank C]

Maybe they could be led to the bottom attachment point for the baby stays and still be effective yet not in the way going forward. I leave my baby stays attached all the time and I am used to stepping around them. ...

Excellent solution! Just check the backing plates for those mid-deck attach-points. Seems to me that you'll lose some leverage at the mid-deck, but it might just be a handy rig. I'd still like it better with built-in line management .... but regarding your vang, I removed the cleat from my Garhauer RV and instead, routed it down to the mast step, abeam to a cheek block, aft along the hatch to a deck cleat (just like the centerboard line). I suppose you could do twin lines like that, and just deal with the extra spaghetti. I just drop my vang line down the companionway, into the cabin.

[Tahoe Jack]

So....Duane, Frank C, et al...did anyone try any or all of these ideas and choose a winner? Don't have a Dowser yet, but makes sense to choose rigging features that are compatible. Jack

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I have not tried it yet.

[Frank C]

A major objective of the Mystic's special dual-vang rig was vang-sheeting, to flatten the main when going upwind. (Mystic's boom was too close to the cabintop for serving that need in any other manner.) Vang-sheeting is provided by the Garhauer RV on my 26X , so there's no reason to clutter the sidedecks with dual vang tackles, though Duane may have a partial solution for that.

First & foremost, the preventer function is well-served by a single line through the forestay tang and back to each hip stanchion, while the Garhauer rigid vang amply serves the vang-sheeting role without the cost and complex spaghetti of the dual vangs. Assuming you don't want to go on-deck when changing from a beat to a run, seems you might need three vangs at all times to work this system. The Garhauer rigid vang remains a remarkably cost effective solution if you sometimes have need of vang-sheeting in heavier upwind conditions.