longer boom

[Red Horse]

Hi folks,
My boat a 38 foot Cross was originally rigged as a ketch. the mizzen has been removed. She is pretty well balanced with out the mizzen.
I found a sail plan drawing the other day and see the boom is 3 feet shorter than called for in the sail plan.
What effect would it have to lengthen the boom? Other than to get the traveler out of the way of the cabin top.

Thanks

Rich

[UNCIVILIZED]

By going to a longer boom, & a bigger main, you're moving the CE aft. So you may get more weather helm, & have a bit more trouble tacking, depending on your boat's underwater profile, & where the CLR is.

On the up side, on a lot of points of sail, you'll be faster. And if you go with a full battened main with a lot of roach, you may notice an increase in power without adding any weather helm, or other negative traits.

The plans should tell you where both (the CE & CLR) are, & how she's supposed to be rigged when she's only got one mast. Although, even then, a lot of folks have experimented with bigger, large roached mains, with positive results.

It's a guess, but if you don't have any significant weather helm now, then adding to the boom length, & main size is probably okay. Just make sure that there's sufficient supporting structure, in the area where you relocate the traveler to.