Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Spars (booms) for Dyer 9s

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Southwestern CT
    Posts
    1,392

    Spars (booms) for Dyer 9s

    Built up a few Dyer 9 booms over the weekend. I had found a beautiful piece of Sitka spruce at ML Condon and couldn't resist buying it. I needed a boom for one of the boats in my fleet. The booms are 1.25" thick, 1.75" high, 8' long and they weigh just 2 pounds 12 ounces. That is about 8 ounces less than the typical wood boom (4 ounces less than the lightest boom I've ever weighed) and almost 16 ounces less than a standard aluminum boom with gooseneck. Some piece of spruce!

    The photo focuses on the white oak yokes which surround the wooden or aluminum mast on the Dyer 9. The small round blue patches are masking tape I cut (using a metal template) to keep epoxy out of the Frearson head of the bronze screws (so they can be removed if need be). If you look carefully you can just make out the 1/8" hole that runs entirely through the yoke and holds a bronze pin and a tack/cunningham fitting. I made these from a single piece of super light Sitka spruce I found at Condon's Lumber. I needed a boom for a boat I had built for my daughters, and it seemed to make sense to build more than one.

    To finish up I will add a protective wrap of fiberglass or kevlar (maybe carbon?) at a point where the booms would contact the shrouds when running. Then add the tack fitting. Then sand and finish varnishing ... probably three or four coats. Finally add dyneema loops to function as soft bails (mainsheet, vang) and add a clam cleat for the outhaul. Oh, the yoke takes thick leather to protect it and the mast. I typically glue those leather tabs on with contact adhesive and then pilot drill and bang in copper nails. That seems to hold the leather tabs well.

    I have explored ways of attaching hardware without drilling through the boom ... which is how I add the dyneema loops. I've bought small stainless rings that I thought might be "whipped" onto the boom to create a bail. That would look very traditional. Not sure why I haven't done it.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Southwestern CT
    Posts
    1,392
    Shows some of the rigging on a boom I made a few years ago. I had double holes for the dyneema loops but decided that was unnecessary. The new synthetic lines ... double-braid and single-braid are really fantastic to work with. Splicing and tapering in ways previously unheard of. Plus a wide selection of colors. Not to everyone's aesthetic sense I'm sure, but I find the practicality and facility very high.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Neither here nor there
    Posts
    3,831
    Blog Entries
    6
    I like the idea of whipping the ring on, but use a Turk’s head and run the Turk’s head through the ring so it looks decorative.

    I find a lot of fittings on ebay sometimes not intended for the purpose, but work for what I need. I found a spinnaker pole end that I am repurposing for my boomkin end. It will have a hole for the shackle and the spring eye on the end will be used to keep warps, dinghy painters, and other towed lines from fouling the rudder. If I hit weather and decide to tow a drogue, I can cleat it off on deck and clip it to the boomkin to keep it abaft of the rudder.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •