Main Boom Outhaul Fittings

[Ken & Jan Cowan]

I have a Sparlight boom which I believe to be the original boom for the boat. It has an outhaul mechanism which works by turning a worm drive type mechanism accessed by a screwdriver through the hole in the end cap of the boom. See photo. Unfortunately the fitments which this worm drive moves forward or back in the boom track have broken off at some time in the past.

I have a new sail with a loose foot and a slider which fits in the boom slot. Unfortunately the worm drive mechanism gets in the way of slider preventing the sail foot being pulled tight towards the end of the boom. I have two options either I try to find fittings for the worm drive mechanism and use it for the outhaul as originally intended or remove it and fashion a simple outhaul using some appropriate line.

Have any of the other owners come across this problem and how did they solve it? How easy is it to remove the boom cap?

Thanks any advice appreciated.

[Guy H]

There’s info on the outhaul on Marilyn & Van’s website https://svrainshadow.com/?p=983

Now I’ve read that I realise that my own outhaul has been trashed somehow and is another thing I need to investigate …

[Van]

We have the original boom too.  Removing any of the fasteners is really hard.

They are all corroded in place (stainless versus aluminum).  Some had corroded so badly there was no aluminum left in the thread and the screws could just fall out (which a couple did).

So, removing the boom end cap may be a challenge!

One last thing, with the internal outhaul, it’s important that any fasteners in the sides of the boom are kept short. The Previous Owner installed some fittings and the shipwrights used self tapping screws.  Horrible idea.  Snags the outhaul.

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