Photos don't lie. It is true that I begin most of my more ambitious boat projects with a double espresso. I didn't like the external outhaul on my mainsail. It required several blocks and a camcleat that was only accessible with the boom centered over the cockpit. I decided to run the outhaul internally, take it down to the deck and back to the port side cabin top winch, where no more purchases would be required. I started by grinding off the outhaul "ear" from the end fitting, and the after few inches of bolt rope groove on the boom. I oversized the exit blocks in case I got carried away with the winch. This was a very realistic move, and even with the oversized blocks I've already blown one of them out. We were racing close hauled and the wind had built. I should have had the trimmer ease the main out before applying winch pressure to the outhaul. It made quite a loud cracking noise and pulled the Harken exit block completely apart. I don't think it would be fair to blame Harken, it had been seriously abused. While I was at it, I stripped the boom to bare aluminum, etched it and covered all of the holes with epoxy soaked cloth patches, dimpling them into the boom to make a key for the filler. I laid a couple of layers of cloth in the area where the rigid vang bracket would eventually bolt on as well. After the epoxy kicked, but while still green, I filled the now sealed holes and faired the entire boom. Primer and paint followed. I completed the project by rigging a Schaeffer reefing track with slider cheek blocks on each side, so that I would have some outhaul adjustment to my single line reefing system. Some contend that outhaul adjustment is moot on a reefed main, but I disagree. I especially like to keep some shape in the first reef, and besides, the single line system is a bit more sensitive to pressure distribution between the tack and clew cringles. The reefing line runs forward through fairleads along the boom and then is turned upward by a swivel block mounted on the gooseneck fitting. It passes up and through the reef tack and back down through a fairlead on the mast to the turning block at the base and then back to the cockpit. I experimented with blocks hung on the reefing tack and clew cringles, but I decided to live with the added friction loads rather than the added chafe from the blocks. I would like to eventually replace the boom with a stiffer section, or maybe I'll stiffen it myself with epoxy and kevlar "stripes. In the meantime it has proven serviceable so far. Go Back to top