Ok Guys - What Is It ?

[Blue Stocking]

Some of you new kids are not old enough to remember when furling boom boats had the entire gooseneck assembly on a heavy sliding track. You full hoisted the main, and tightened down the luff and boom on a tackle, usually 3 to 1.
So a fixed vang, as used nowadays would not work. Also these older boats did not have mainsheet traveller tracks to bring the mainsheet block to centreline of the boat.
If you wanted the bowse down the mainsail, you rigged that claw as a preventer to a stancion fitting. It, in combination with the mainsheet, would allow you to tighten the leach.
Remember, with 60's sail material, and narrow boats, one didn't pinch as much, but footed off, and let them put their shoulder down and get cracking.

[redcobra]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Some of you new kids are not old enough to remember when furling boom boats had the entire gooseneck assembly on a heavy sliding track. You full hoisted the main, and tightened down the luff and boom on a tackle, usually 3 to 1.
So a fixed vang, as used nowadays would not work. Also these older boats did not have mainsheet traveller tracks to bring the mainsheet block to centreline of the boat.
If you wanted the bowse down the mainsail, you rigged that claw as a preventer to a stancion fitting. It, in combination with the mainsheet, would allow you to tighten the leach.
Remember, with 60's sail material, and narrow boats, one didn't pinch as much, but footed off, and let them put their shoulder down and get cracking.

So true. And you sir have a fabulous boat. I had a friend with one and spent a lot of time on it. Goes like a freight train when she gets moving.

[roverhi]

If you need the truth again, it's a Vang Claw for use with a roller reefing boom. Rod vangs did not exist until sometime around the '80s after slab reefing had become universal. Rod Vangs won't work with a roller reefed sail in any case. Before the Rod Vangs, vangs were tackle that went from some point on the boom at right angle to a padeye or other fastening point on the deck. These Vang Claws were really poor solutions to just another fault of roller furling booms, no place to fasten things to the boom other than at the ends. Using this claw on a reefed sail would wear holes in the sail if left in one place for much time but they were about the only way to attach a vang to roller reefed sail.

Does anyone know why sailors were so stupid as to have roller reefing booms foisted on them. They made slow, crappy reefs, the hardware was expensive and prone to failure. Having suffered through this reefing system in my youth, truly can't figure out why it was ever invented.

[vet222]

still think it looks like a toilet seat

[atoll]

cut it in half,my wife has something like it for back massage............

[smurphny]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Some of you new kids are not old enough to remember

Some of us are older than these antiques and still sail them I thought all boats had downhauls. My Lightning had one as well. Now I know what track you were talking about. I use it all the time to tension the luff and thought others must use one as well. Yes, it is 3:1, attached to the gooseneck. This explains why there is so much talk about tensioning the luff with 2:1 halyards on some threads. Duhhh. I still do not see what this "claw" might have been sheeted to. Can't believe it was supposed to be attached to a stantion, which seems to be inadequate to take that much load. The boat has a main sheet traveller that must have been installed sometime along the way. It still has the original pad eyes for the mainsheet blocks which I left in place when recoring. They are good for emergency, should the traveller fail.

[David_Old_Jersey]

The question is now what to do with it........

[IslandHopper]

Here's a couple in use....

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by roverhi

If you need the truth again, it's a Vang Claw for use with a roller reefing boom. Rod vangs did not exist until sometime around the '80s after slab reefing had become universal. Rod Vangs won't work with a roller reefed sail in any case. Before the Rod Vangs, vangs were tackle that went from some point on the boom at right angle to a padeye or other fastening point on the deck. These Vang Claws were really poor solutions to just another fault of roller furling booms, no place to fasten things to the boom other than at the ends. Using this claw on a reefed sail would wear holes in the sail if left in one place for much time but they were about the only way to attach a vang to roller reefed sail.

Does anyone know why sailors were so stupid as to have roller reefing booms foisted on them. They made slow, crappy reefs, the hardware was expensive and prone to failure. Having suffered through this reefing system in my youth, truly can't figure out why it was ever invented.

You meen like wooden planked hulls and cotton sails?

[pillum]

Originally Posted by redcobra

I'd keep it. good as an emergency mainsheet. My buddy next door has one as a mainsheet on his Contest 30. Next time I'm at the boat I'll take a pic of it for you.

I agree, I'd hang onto it "just in case". Strange things happen at sea...

[xeon_tsd]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

The question is now what to do with it........

get a very short game of horse shoes going.