Boom Wang, do I need one?

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by Steadman Uhlich

Typos in titles can be humorous.

I created one (a true typo) myself, not long ago.

"Boom Wang" caused me to chuckle.

Vang or Wang may not make much difference to most.

I don't know much about sucking typos, but as the Great Captain Hook told Smee: "I've just had an apostrophe!"

But even "once in a blue lagoon, I can mangle my metaphors."

[Robert Tilbury]

Originally Posted by Steadman Uhlich

Typos in titles can be humorous.

I created one (a true typo) myself, not long ago.

"Boom Wang" caused me to chuckle.

If you want a moderator can correct the typo for you, if you ask.

Vang or Wang may not make much difference to most.

I think "BOOM WANG" is better ,,,
Leave it the way it is , I wouldnt have looked at the post if it stated Vang ,,

[boatman61]

Where theres a Wing there must be a Wang...

[thunderhoof]

Fascinating. However...
For a cruising boat a vang serves several purpose. If it is a hydraulic or solid (spring loaded) it can (1) support the boom when the mainsail is down, and it (2) will keep the mainsail from rising and dumping the air when heading downwind. A rope vang will serve the second purpose if the wind is up but otherwise it is simple and not good for much else on a larger boat. If the boom end is inside the lifelines you may be able to live without a vang, but not when sailing downwind in light air.
p.s. Avoid a hydraulic vang for maintenance reasons on all but larger (over 50 ft) boats

[goat]

Originally Posted by RichandHelen

I had a boom wang when I was younger. Now - not so much

Ha! Good one Helen!


Uhhh... or Richard.
;^)

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by akprb

No one mentioned the “accidental jibe” yet.

Depending on the geometry of your pig that wang may save your backstay and by extension your mast.

(See what I did there) :-)

Accidental jibe? . . . no such thing has ever happened on my boat, now if you want to talk about an "uncontrolled jibe" why yes, we've had quite a few of those in our early years. It's all in the terminology used.

As for the geometry of my "pig" . . . don't you think you're getting a little too personal?

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by StuM

Ashley, when I was dinghy sailing around Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours and the Solent in the early 60's we still called it a kicking strap.

On the east coast in the 80s, we called it a kicking strap when it was just a tackle (pulling down only). A vang was the solid version that also held up the boom.

[Sojourner]

My Amel Super maramu's only got a dinky little rope kicker. Not too worried about it, the traveler is very wide and well set up, the main sail is smaller than most (ketch) and doesnt hang over the side downwind, and it is a cruiser after all....

[reflectionsv37]

I have a Valiant Esprit 37 without a vang and during one of my refits decided I wanted a boom vang. I wanted more control of sail shape running downwind and was also hoping to eliminate the topping lift for the boom. I was tired of having the leech of the mainsail replaced due to chafing from the topping lift.

I purchased a Forespar vang, ordered the mast and boom fittings from the spar manufacturer and installed it. We reef from the cockpit so the base of the mast has a large collection of blocks and lines. I installed a new pad eye to free up some room at the base and ran the vang line back to the cockpit. I was quite pleased with the installation while I was tied up to a slip in the marina. The topping lift was gone, the boom and the weight of the sail fully supported by the vang.

Then I went out for my first test sail... I was happy with the control I had over the mainsail shape when running downwind. The we went to drop the mainsail. As the sail came down, the boom crashed onto the top of the dodger and then proceeded to bounce up and down off the dodger in the mild seaway. Before the boat left the slip again, the topping lift was reinstalled. But wait... It gets worse! Much worse!

A few months later we left Hawaii for French Polynesia. About 2500 miles and I began learning new issues with the vang. The first was the never ending noise of the vang. The banging of lines against the vang resonated through the mast so loudly it was difficult to sleep. The only way to stop this mind numbing noise was to put just the right amount of tension on the vang control line. Every time you trimmed the mainsail, you had to make an adjustment to the vang.

If you made a major change to the mainsail trim, you had to make sure to release the vang before easing the sheet and tightening it immediately after sheeting in the main. The banging noise in your head was always a good indicator that you forgot to take the slack out of the vang. At this point, I was wondering why I put that damn vang on in the first place. But wait... Yes it gets worse!

On this same trip, we had a fairly significant wind shift and sheeted in the main. Of course this allowed slack in the vang control line. The wind almost immediately shifted back and we let the main out again and suddenly, it wouldn't go out any further. I hadn't removed the slack from the vang control line after bringing the main in and when we released the main, the control line for the vang was pulled into the mainsheet turning block at the base of the mast. We could sheet the main in, but couldn't ease it. It was jammed!! Out on deck, I finally managed to use my 250lbs of weight to yank the control line out of the block.

At this point, I realized I hated that vang and wished I'd never installed it. It was a never ending nightmare. We eventually sailed up to Majuro in the Marshall islands and the first boat project on my list was to remove the vang, but it in a box and put it up for sale on EBay! Of all the things I've ever done to the boat in nearly 25 years, and I've done a lot, this was the biggest waste of time, money, effort and frustration.

I truly think I would have gotten more satisfaction sitting with a cold beer and lighting $100 bills on fire and watching them burn! Your mileage may vary!!