Soft vang on HC43

[apropos43]

Does anyone use a soft vang on an HC43? A sailmaker suggested it but I'm not sure if it's worth doing, and I've sailed without it for 9 years. Would a vang help when sailing downwind by keeping the aft end of the boom down?

[markfnovak]

I'm not quite sure about the performance improvement, but I warn against tying a vang or a preventer to the genoa track as one might be inclined to do. On my boat the genoa track had been lifted and I was fortunate that I was able to repair one track. The other required a custom replacement and it was pricey.

Mark

[scleary]

Vangs can give you a better sail shape on many points of sale. Every racing boat has one, and my philosophy is that heavy boats like ours can use every advantage available to extract all the performance we can from them. My 48T had a vang and I also used it as a preventer. The 43T I just bought (have yet to sail it) has a shackle attached to a port and starboard chainplate where the vang can be attached as a preventer.

Thanks,
Steve

[edelweiss]

I have been moving toward a soft vang on our 38. My local rigger advised reinforcing the boom with a "doubler" which was a second thickness of aluminum placed and riveted inside the boom. So we did that. The vang was then figured to attach to a bail on the mast at the base. I have tried to use the vang with a 5:1 purchase ( because that was the types of blocks I had on hand). The 5:1 does not seem to be enough purchase to pull the boom down easily and I am thinking about converting it to a 6:1 and then perhaps using a "multiplyer" which is another single block arrangement with a separate anchor point to the mast. I have been thinking about the preventer as a separate item that would attach to the end of boom and go forward. I have seen this diagramed and installed on some other types of sailboats. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has worked this system out both for the vang and preventer. Im particularly interested in any modifications that were done to the main sheet routing to accommodate the vang at the base of the mast

Mark