I've got an older H16, and toy with the idea of getting a new boat. I see some with booms, some without even on performance boats. I can imagine that not having a boom in light winds/waves would help the rig from swinging around, or unplanned jibes less stressfull. Is there much advantage to having a boom?

Just wondering why no-one has responded. I guess I'd say that the boom is not your main criteria - choose a boat that suits you all round. I have a boat with a boom and one without. I break the boom I have every now and then (by landing on it), and that makes sailing home a bit of a bitch. I don't break the boom on the boat that doesn't have one. Maybe worth thinking about??? Otherwise choose the boat you like, ignoring the presence or otherwise of a boom.

IMO, most newly designed (and most older designs) performance boats have booms. Think F18s, F16s, I20s, As, Ts.... Besides the Wave, is there a current "performance" design without a boom? N5.5 and orig 6.0 were boomless.

All of the designs have changed where the sails attach directly to the mainsheet block and the boom only acts as an outhaul agent/mast rotator device.

I had a 5.5SL and the boomless rig was handy, but I think it adversely affected performance downwind in light air.

I would not consider myself an expert on the subject.

Apart from no boom = no damage, having a boom is good if you want somewhere to afix a paddle, or even sailing instructions (suitably wrapped of course). Useful too for storing bananas. Can't think why else you'd have one if you didn't like the boat it came with. I'll go away now...

I've got a Nacra 5.8 NA with a custom, boomless square top main that has even more headroom than the stock sail.
I love it. Downwind in light air is my strong point, so I don't think that's a general problem with boomless boats.

In very light air and choppy waves, a boom is pretty helpfull as you can push it out to keep the sail from banging around.

My understanding is that it's harder to control the shape of a boomless main, and they require very high sheet loads. My main was built with a lot of shape to it, and I find it difficult to depower. A rig with a boom may be better across a wider range of conditions.

The Nacra 5.5 Sloop is slow in light air. Compare the wind-dependent portsmouth numbers for the 5.5 and 5.8 - The 5.8 is rated much faster in light air, almost the same in heavy air.

Nacra 5.5 slow in light air? Tell that to Bert Rice from Gulf Breeze, FL. I've seen him race boat for boat with Randy Smyth on a Prindle 19 in less than 10 knots. He routinely beat Nacra 6.0 NA's in all wind strengths. Bert knew how to get the most out of that boat!

Bob Hodges

I had a nacra 6.0na and I found that the boomless design really helped downwind. You could over rotate the mast and then let off the clue traveller and make the sail really deep.

Just a technoid nit to consider that is completely unrelated to the rest of the thread: This (see quote above) is not the case with the VectorWorks Bimare XJ and Nacra A2. On those boats the sail attaches to the boom and the boom attaches to the sheet (the sail does not attach directly to the sheet). I believe they do this so that the sheet and outhaul tension are as decoupled as possible.

Correct. I did not mean "all" - I meant to edit to "some".

Bob - yes Bert and Little Bert are fast on any boat.

Guys:

How do you guys control mast rotation on you non boom race boats?

Doug

Have I got something wrong.. the Wave is the odd little 12 foot Hobie isn't it?

Oh Oh! Incoming! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I got a front row seat for this one. Popcorn anyone? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I read tshan's question as excluding the Wave from performance designs.

I personally exclude it from "performance designs", as its strengths are not meant to include being the latest/greatest/fastest/lightest/most high tech/etc. design around.

I have ultimate respect for it as a "racing design". The class is strong and very good sailors race them. It is true one design racing where tactics play a large role in winning races.

It is a matter of wording, really. I meant no disrespect the the Wave, its class or sailors.

You have rotation inducers on boomless rigs, as opposed to rotation limiters on boomed rigs. Upwind the inducers are usually let off and mainsheet tension and mainsail track car location help control rotation. Downwind the inducers are pulled taught to force the rotation - you just have to remember to disengage them before gybing.

I was just trying to clarify your post, since somebody took it to mean the Wave is a performance cat, which it obviously is NOT. It is more like the golf cart of catamarans. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Speaking of which, maybe we should start having golf-cart racing here at Put-in-Bay. Gas division and electric division. Take off the governors and change the gearing, and it could be pretty exciting. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Can't reef to no boom.
only a taller modern performance style sail will work well with no boom as the clew must pull back towards to traveller. Taller sail, better aerodynamics but less control because of higher centre of gravity. Some A class cats used to compete well with no boom. Example the OK
Boomless usually would have to have cuttaway foot for better control of bottom of sail which is excellent for reducing induced resistance.
Maybe it is about someone having the gonads to try in the higher end of a performance class using the newer later style of rotation controls for boomless (as described earlier in this thread) but that would require getting out of a comfort zone that almost all perfomance sailors are used to. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

We had a crazed golf cart Michael Schumacher wanna-be run into one of our palm trees. I siliconed the three foot crack to save the tree. The colf cart was pretty much totaled. See attached.