Maximum "out/up" position for Kicker?
- This topic has 10 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 7 months ago by
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Hi again,
Is there an easy reference point for the maximum “up” position that the boom should be able to get to with the kicker fully off?
H
Hi Hugh
I find its usually the top of my head.
Other that that it is a case of if i leave it too slack is there enough adjustment to get the kick on hard enough when its blowing.
Cheers
BrianI can get as much “down” adjustment as I want by tightening the strop a bit, or using more rope. “Down” is a separate question.
The main thing I want to sort out is where “maximum up” is…how high I should have the boom going when I dump all the kicker lines. I want it up enough to miss my head and be off enough for power reaching, but not any more. Is there an easy way to judge this?
H
start with the boom low and gradually ease it up until it stops hitting your head . we are all different heights and different levels of unfitness so it will vary from person to person. you can always put more kicker on for the reach if needed.
A bit of advice Nick gave me at Largs, was to have your kicker strop tight enough so that you struggle to get the boom onto your shoulder. Hope this helps.
Teddy
That’d be a rough and ready reference.
Should I be “get the boom onto my shoulder” when i’m sitting in the boat, straight up, at the normal windward sailing position?
H
Basically, Stand to one side of the boat and try and get the end of the boom on your shoulder. You need to make it the correct length so that when you try to put it on your shoulder you have to struggle. Hope this helps.
Teddy
Stand to one side of the boat
Do you mean standing in the cockpit, or in the ocean? Or is this with the boat on the trolley and you standing on the ground?? :?
I find this massively confusing! I’m with Brian on this – my main concern is that I can cram it right down on a tight reach. How high it’ll go is as high as it gets! I do think having a bungee to pull the lever back is a really good idea – means you can see where you’ve slacked the kicker to, even if you’ve got the boom cranked down with the mainsheet..
DaveAgain, perhaps I’m missing the point, but I can get the boom down to the deck if I just shorten the strop enough. That’s easy. The question is how far up I should allow it to go…or how far is needed on a reach in a blow.
From what I’ve seen, most people have levers with the same amount of purchase so (excluding different length levers) everyone has more or less the same travel.
Am I being particularly obtuse?
H
Hugh,
The upper limit for the boom height is not based on sail trim, but rather your ability to get under the boom. Make the strop as short as you dare, when you are on a close reach in a lot of breeze the extra power that the vang gives you is massive.
But remember that you still need to be able to gybe the boat with removing your elbow.Cheers
TerryPerhaps I was being obtuse, ‘cos it seems the system had evolved or been designed perfectly sensibly..
Step 1. Shorten the strop enough that the boom can be cranked down to the deck with the kicker before the kicker blocks come block-to-block
Step 2. Provide enough rope so that the kicker can be left off until the lever goes out to about 45 degrees past vertical.Then the boom is up enough to allow any fatboy to pass under it, but not wildly up in the air…and you can crank that sucker down as hard as you like.
Learning learning.
Now to sort out the footstraps and mainsheet block..
H
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