What good is a boom vang?

[Bepi]

Almost a quote from "Caddy Shack".... !

It was from memory, but now I see... it's shorts not pants. I was inspired by the photo of the Bushwood.

 

[frick]

Im not quite sure I agree with all this as stated. The main twist is controlled with a combination of main sheet and traveler (and vang also). When upwind you want your boom about centerline but you still want to twist the main to account for sheer or depower the top as needed To do that you need to raise the traveler and ease the sheet to allow the boom end up without letting it out. Racing we use the traveler almost exclusively to trim the main in/out to control helm pressure and deal with gusts, but dropping the traveler will increase your twist a bit, its all interconnected. And if you crank your vang in hard upwind (usually something to avoid) you'll get a flat untwisted panel for a main which can be trimmed with the sheet alone as if you were playing the traveler. This "vang-sheeting" is sometimes useful in super-gusty situations but is the best option for boats with no traveler (or broken traveler!)

The quick way to control the twist in the job is to move jibsheet car on the track... Take it back to make it flat when going to weather, move the car up to power up when going down wind.

 

[Bepi]

The quick way to control the twist in the job is to move jibsheet car on the track... Take it back to make it flat when going to weather, move the car up to power up when going down wind.

Thank you! I now have one more piece of the sail trim puzzle.

 

[Seth]

Dunno… a sturdy topping lift is what you need if you ever need to use boom & mainsheet as a crane - to lift a MOB, outboard motor, or the engine, for example. And I’ve seen a few boats at anchor for a week that use it to lift the boom clear up out of the cockpit.
Also, I figure the 3:1 vang with snap shackles is my emergency block and tackle to fit between the halyard and LifeSling if that ever has to be deployed.
But yeah, going down wind without a vang is just an exercise in futility. I suppose this is most obvious with end-boom sheeting. At some boat size, a rigid vang with hydraulics becomes de rigueur, as the forces become to great for rope tackle. Not sure what size that is… >40 ft-ish?

Just for food for thought: You can always use the main halyard to raise the boom above the cockpit or, lift something heavy, etc. In fact, you should do this for heavy items as the main halyard is much stronger than the typical boom topping lift. If you have a solid vang there is really no benefit to having a dedicated topping lift. I also know people who replace the topping lift (provided it runs through the same type of sheave at the top of the mast as the main halyard does and exists the mast down low) with a spare main halyard. At least this way that sheave is carrying something useful...Cheers