Hi Alex,

I answered privately, so I’m repeating it here.

There are two good reasons for the middle boom block on the Goose.

1/ the Oz Goose being 12ft long vs the 8ft OzRacer means the helmsperson spends a lot more time away from the transom. So the mid sheeting is good for that. With the OzRacer you are so near to the back of the boat most of the time.

2/ The OzGoose has a much greater capacity for people without damaging the sailing speed. It is very happy with three adults aboard. We normally teach this way even in light morning winds on Ta’al Lake and we teach the beginners to spot the gusts and sail between them to max speed all the time. The boat really responds well.

So given that we are sailing in teaching mode a lot of the time the centre boom drop for the end of the mainsheet is ideal for teaching. One beginner forward can sheet and the other can steer, or instructor can sheet while all the beginners get a handle on steering or tacking angles. And nothing ever gets tangled up.

FINAL – one of the big advantages of the aft sheeting for the OzRacer is the neatness of tacking through the tack. Both mainsheet and tiller extension can be put in one hand normally my front hand and if I face backwards in the tack, both end up in by back hand with no tangles. Grab the sheet with my front hand, and all is sweet.

Note this assumes you are using the cross body tiller extension hold.

Another, clearer, photo of the mainsheet/tack/boom complex would ineed be very useful!

Cheers,
Alex.

We have had very blustery weather over the last two days; even with two reefs the little ‘Duck would probably make heavy going of it.

Cheers,
Alex.

NO SEWING Alex 🙂 !
If you want nettles they just go through the holes already in the sail and are knotted each side of the sail so they don’t fall out.

Or you can use a length of shockcord with a loop in the end instead.

Do the main reefing lines at luff and leach.

The loop drops over the front end of the boom goes through the luff reef eyelet that is in use, under the boom through the first small reefing eyelet in the sail, under the boom, through the next small reefing eyelet, under the boom and then is pulled reasonably tight and ties off to the main reef eyelet in the leach.

Only one knot to tie and you don’t have to mess with finding the ends of the tingles. Plus if the main reef lines ever let go through accident or misadventure the shock cord will stretch or break so you don’t rip the intermediate reef eyes out of the sail.

This is a method stolen from ocean racing.

Thank you for your very prompt reply – and very useful info :). Interesting about the aft-wards downhaul “vang”. Will play about with that if I ever get the ‘Duck back onto the drink – and in some decent wind. Will also try out the mainsheet outhaul and halyard repositioning the next time that I do some vicarious “land sailing”.

Regarding sailing in more boisterous cnditions, I *must* get the reefing nettles sewn onto my shiny new RSS lugs’l ;). It has occurred to me that the clew and tack of each reefing bundle aren’t secured (same as with my old polytarp sail) – or is that (yet another) misinterpretation on my part?

I’m afraid that I’m one of the > 3 half-hitch amateurs that you talk about (although usually to deal with excess line ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

Hi Alex, nice to see you here.

This is meant to be the simplest guide for a non adjustable lug rig. If someone wanted a more adjustable rig they could add an adjustable downhaul and outhaul.

The single loop works fine to get lots of purchase. No problem getting the whole setup humming tight in strong winds.

Both Balance and Balanced sound OK to me. Nautical terms are derived from so many countries and, maybe in some cases, villages. So I think we can get away with either.

The bleater/preventer is used because later it will open up opportunity to move the boom attachment of the downhaul aft for a boom vang effect. Also it is a much faster method to tie up than the square lashing.

MIK

I like the block-less downhaul – how about two downhaul loops between boom and deck loop (saddle n ,y case?) for extra purchase?

Another query – is it “balance” or “balanced”? There sems to be wide variation in the use of this term.

Cheers,
Alex.