The boom on a Taipan is simply some aluminium tube with fittings attached. These are lightweight and would be very easy to make at home. There is very little load on a Taipan boom as the mainsheet blocks are attached to the clew of the sail rather than the boom. The boom is used to adjust the location of the clew so the only loads are basically compression. There are blocks and a cleat attached to the boom to enable outhaul adjustment and a sort of universal joint where the boom attaches to the mast. The sail is loose footed of course. Depending on the set-up there is also attachments to the boom for over-rotation control.

The first photo below shows the rotation control and the 'universal joint'. The universal joint is simply an aluminium block with two holes in at right angles to each other and at opposite ends of the block. A bolt runs through the boom and through the block at one end and the other end of the aluminium block is attached to a bracket on the mast with a pin. The block is able to move up and down within the boom. There may be some spacers and bushes inside the boom - I've never looked.

The second photo shows the outhaul. There is a pulley attached to the clew which is a little difficult to see in the photo. This setup gives a 3:1 purchase on the outhaul. The outhaul line goes through the inside of the boom and exits about halfway along where there is a cleat. Not shown in either photo.

I hope this is of some assistance.

Rob.

Photos courtesy of F16 website: http://www.geocities.com/F16HPclass/