Boom Jaws - idea courtesy of Ray Frechette Jr

[Fintan Murphy]

Ray mentioned on the BYYB that he would go with boom jaws rather than the gooseneck fitting if he were to do it over.

Well, I'm in that position in that I have to either make the gooseneck, or now have the option to make boom jaws instead. (Thanks for the thought Ray).

They certainly are appealing, as well as being easier than getting all that stainless drilled.

I could make a circular collar on my (square) mast to accept the jaws, and easily attach them to the (square) boom.

What are the collective thoughts... pro's and con's. ?

[Ed Jones]

That was done by someone on the old BYYB forum a while back but I can't find the link :? . It did look real good and they liked the way it worked.

[Dave R1]

I was going to do boom jaws. I like the idea and the look. I also like the idea that the boom could be raised horizontally if desired so a tent could be hung over itand there's be some good head room under it. I ended up not doing it, however. Maybe someday. You'll want to consider something to hold the boom up when the sail is furled and unless you make some sort of collar to prevent the boom from riding up too high, you'll need a downhaul.

I think the downhaul could be a problem. It should lead to the base of the mast. The Weekender's mast is pretty close to the cabin front, though.

Perhaps a boom vang or cunningham would work in this situation. If you do it, please share some pictures and a report on how it works for you.

[TexasPhil]

I have been thinking about this too.... I think boom jaws would work well, and a lot easier to build than the stainless stuff. Looks better too.

Dave's right, you would need a downhaul to keep it from riding up. I was thinking about a vang.

Someone else built a mast with a little circular shelf below the tabernacle... wish I could find the picture.... but that would prevent it from sliding down too far when the sail is furled. Just need it about 3 inches below the boom when the sail is set.

As far as setting it for a tent, or something like that. You could clamp a C-clamp to the mast and let the boom jaws sit on it. Or if you didn't mind drilling a hole through the mast, you could put a rod through mast to allow the jaws to rest on it. Or you could simply lash it.

[tdrown]

Coincidently, that is one of the modifications I have planned for this winter, I actually mentioned boom jaws in a post yesturday. I saw them on the frendship sloop I took a cruise on. It probably puts more wheight on the sail though. Along with moving the halyard blocks up the mast (my mast is 17', right now all the blocks are at stock height though) and either move the gooseneck up or use boom jaws. I just don't like the boom being that low. I probably will use the exact same dimensions as the Gaff Jaw, being that they serve the same purpose. One idea I found that might make raising the sail a little easier is to put trucks on the rope that ties the gaff-jaws on.

Here's a quote about if from William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine from 1780!

The foremost, or inner extremity of the gaff, is furnished with two cheeks forming a semicircle, which inclose the after part of the mast so as to confine the gaff close to it's respective mast whilst the sail is hoisting or lowering. It is further secured in this situation by a rope passing from one of the cheeks to the other on the fore-side of the mast; and to prevent the friction of this rope upon the mast, by hoisting or lowering, several little wooden balls, called trucks, are hung upon it, in the same manner as the holy beads are hung upon a catholic's rosary.

http://www.jcu.edu.au/aff/history/southseas/refs/falc/title.html

Pretty interesting, I reached it while compiling a French-English translation of sailing terms, which Willaim Falconer has in his book (very old terms though, it's from before the french revolution!) http://tyler.drown.org/frtermes.html

[Frank Hagan]

George Marousek used boom jaws on his Weekender, and had a design for a hidden hinge at the same time. He donated two of his pictures for the "Modifications" album at the http://groups.msn.com/weekenderboatbuilding site:

Looks pretty nice, doesn't it?

[Fintan Murphy]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas.

The current thinking is that I will create a semi-circular shelf and attach it to the (rear of the) mast, I'll round the mast for about four inches up from the shelf, and wrap leather around the rounded part. I'll make the boom jaws, with leather around their inner edges, (and beads on the retaining string). I don't think there is a need for the small swivel (horse?) in the middle of the jaws as the boom does not run up the mast, and should not lever in a vertical plane, both of which happen to the gaff.

I think that the weight of the boom sould negate the need for a downhaul, and be enough to keep the luff tensioned. If this is not the case, I can create a downhaul later.