Are Boom Brakes a good idea? Still need Preventers?

[sailorladd]

Sailing several thousands of miles, solo and with crew, I heartily endorse have some sort of preventer or brakes... I used a dedicated preventer line, attached to the outhaul end of the boom to the samson post up front when running down wind.

After a few very hard jibes in the early days, I realized something needed to be done to prevent possible major damage, and it has since "prevented" many possible jibes...

[lifeofreilly57]

I'm a fan of boom brakes.
When making an downwind passage to St Martin we were hit by a pop up squall, the boom was attached to a preventer clipped to the toe rail, the wind clocked up to 45 knots in about thirty seconds and clocked around a full 360 degrees.
I was on watch by myself while the boom jibed with force and ripped off the toe rail and proceeded to swing wildly with the preventer blocks and toe rail swinging across the cockpit. I was able to wing the boat up to windward then do a large 360 degree circle to keep the keep the boat pointing into the wind and reduce pressure on the sails. Also pulled in the main sheet to prevent further damage, the whole squall lasted lasted 10 minutes. My wife just poked her head up to yell at me for waking her up, then went back to bed while I sat in sideways rain soaked to the skin.
For some reason things like this always happen at 3am.
Lesson learned, a boom brake would not have been able to prevent the jibe but would have prevented the damage.
It's on my upgrade list.

[jamhass]

I think Bravo has it right. The two serve somewhat different purposes.

A boom brake is best used to help control intentional gybes.

A preventer helps avoid significant damage in an unintentional gybe.

Both have their place.

Personally, I used 2 sets of preventers.

One was a classical end-boom-to-bow for longer downwind runs.

Other was a 4-part purchase mid-boom-mounted set (one each side) preventer (controlled from the cockpit) that I used for "normal/easy" downwind runs. I could gybe all but the main, then control the main with these quite nicely. 'course I wasn't racing, and often single-handling.

[The Yacht Rigger]

Originally Posted by jamhass

I think Bravo has it right. The two serve somewhat different purposes.

A boom brake is best used to help control intentional gybes.

A preventer helps avoid significant damage in an unintentional gybe.

Both have their place.

Personally, I used 2 sets of preventers.

One was a classical end-boom-to-bow for longer downwind runs.

Other was a 4-part purchase mid-boom-mounted set (one each side) preventer (controlled from the cockpit) that I used for "normal/easy" downwind runs. I could gybe all but the main, then control the main with these quite nicely. 'course I wasn't racing, and often single-handling.

Don't forget that a brake also helps avoid significant damage in an unintentional gybe.

[NormanMartin]

Sailed with a Dutchman and found it to be excellent... safe and effective

[donradcliffe]

My preventer was a light 4 part tackle which went from the center of the boom to the leeward toe rail. It was intended to break before the boom or toe rail, but I wasn't sure that it would.

One day I was sailing near the shore and hit an unmarked reef. I turned the steering wheel to crash jibe off the reef, and hoped that the preventer would break. One of the blocks in the preventer exploded and I got off the reef with no damage.

[barryglewis]

I used a boom brake in 1986, on Riquita, a 47 ft ketch I skippered to S of Cape Adare, from Sydney. I can't remember the brand, it had 2 arms and a drum. The control rope went through an eye on one arm, round the drum several times, and back down via the other arm, thence to a turning block and to a winch. We used this as a preventer, as well as controlling releasing the boom after an accidental gybe. Note the boom and mast and gooseneck were stoutly constructed.
I was very impressed and would have used one on Risky Business, but the boom is too low, so wevhave 3 to 1 tackle each side going to the boom where the vang attaches . Again this is a stout boom, probably twice the size of her racing boom. This had worked well for about 58k miles so far

[Gks]

In the last month or so, I’ve seen references to boom brakes in various sailing magazines, with reports of success using the more affordable, cheaper devices designed for rock climbers as descender/climbing devices. I see these on Amazon at quite low prices.'
So that raises a few questions:
• Does anyone have experience using these devices as a substitute for a proper book break?
• Are they safe to use in a marine environment and strong enough to function as a boom break? (In my case, it’s for a 36-foot Biance 360 with a design displacement of 5,300 kg and a main sail of about 35.2 sqm).
• Are there any thoughts on the reality of using equipment designed for one application to another?

Lastly, I have trouble finding within the various suppliers’ advertisements what standards and quality tests these devices designed for rock climbing have undergone. There are numerous references to their breaking load rating, but I wonder if this is qualified or just the manufacturer's own rating.
Any thoughts or experiences would be helpful.

[NormanMartin]

I'd check with Martin Van Breems at Sound Sailing in Norwalk. He's the inventor. I have sailed with him and thing he's a pretty straight up guy.
As of this writing, he's on his way to Bermuda on Monhegan, a J44.
https://dutchmar.com/

[Fortytwo]

Can anyone share their experience with the Wichard Gyb'Easy Boom Brake?