Building a Boom

[allanbranch]

In the process of ordering new sails I've found my boom is two feet shorter than it should be. My boom is round, nothing fancy the boat is a Morgan 30-1. I've done a bit of metal work myself, I can tig weld fairly well.

I've been looking at used booms, but by the time I got get one which is a half day drive, then modify it I could build one cheaper without the years of old hardware, holes etc.

Am I nuts?

I can order 3" aluminum tubing for about $200.

Any tips of building a boom? Anything you wish you boom had that I could add. I'm looking for advice/help/wisdom.

[a64pilot]

I 'd like a hook or two on the bottom so that I could attach a line to use the boom to hoist with.

Also be sure of the type of aluminum, I think maybe 5,000 series may be what you want, not 2024 etc?

[barnakiel]

Building a boom is simple. Make sure your fittings will match, esp the goosneck.

b.

[ur2slo]

Tail boom of a Hughes 500D might work

Yes stay away from 2024, 6061 has highest strength properties , but look into it first..

Measure with micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with ax........works everytime!

[Cheechako]

You might think about why it's short. Maybe the boat had a lot of weather helm and the PO shortened the boom when getting a new mainsail.
$200 sounds like a lot of $ for a few feet of 3" dia tubing...

[roverhi]

The Morgan 30-1 was designed to the CCA rule which did not penalize mainsail area as heavily as the IOR rule. To get a better rating many people racing CCA designs under IOR Measurement reduced the foot of the mainsail and some the boom along with it. The Tartan 34 classic for example had three boom lengths from the factory over the years. There was something like 4' off the boom length from the original design in the last iteration.

Unless you want to use the roller reefing hardware, why not go with a more rectangular boom. See booms all the time on Ebay for pretty cheap and they are often lying around busy boat yards. If you want to keep the round boom hardware, find a section of alumnium tubing of the right I/D to fit the hardware and the length you want. Bought a 20' section to fix a whisker pole for a lot less than $300 shipped to my door in Kona. Go to a commercial tube and pipe supplier not your local marine source.

[DivingOtter]

I'm a former helicopter pilot and we had a 500 flare too high during an auto, which in turn hit the stinger and buckled the boom rendering it scrap. I actually had the same thought running through my head once about how I'm sure I could use this for my boat..

[DivingOtter]

Originally Posted by ur2slo

Tail boom of a Hughes 500D might work

Yes stay away from 2024, 6061 has highest strength properties , but look into it first..

Measure with micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with ax........works everytime!

I'm a former helicopter pilot and we had a 500 flare too high during an auto, which in turn hit the stinger and buckled the boom rendering it scrap. I actually had the same thought running through my head once about how I'm sure I could use this for my boat.. Oh, needless to say, the pilot had a "watch this" moment when we wrecked. I miss my 206.