Rodkicker in 36 We have a S&S 36' Swan. When the pilothouse roof was repaired, the repair guy strongly told us that we should not fix the other end of the rodkicker in the metal collar around the mast hole, but it should be fixed to the mast itself. This is because mast and sail movement will put the roof and deck under too much pressure.
However, when the lower end of the rodkicker is in the mast, the angle becames so small (and/or the fixing point in the boom gets so near the mast) that it gets very weak.
Dear Aleksi
It would be helpful to get measurements of the kicker geometry as well as its brand and size. How long is your kicker, how far aft of the mast does it attach to the boom, and how far below the boom does it attach to the mast?
Would you have photos?
Kind regards
Lars
Dear Aleksi
Thank you for the information and photo. It can be seen that the boom is low down, and the vang attachment high up, resulting in a very short effective vang length.
The mast collar should not be used for vang attachment where high loads are involved, this makes the vang tension increase when the boom moves out to the side.
Would it be possible to move the mast rubber boot further down in order to also move the vang attachment down on the mast? Suggest that you look in the Maintenance section for how to install the mast rubber boot upper end.
If there is a high mast collar on deck it could possibly be cut down slightly, in principle it only needs to accommodate the hose clip holding the rubber boot lower end.
The vang attachment to the boom should be moved aft also, to be a little further aft than the distance from vang attachment to boom attachment on the mast.
If you have further questions pls feel free to ask. Would appreciate to hear what the modified attachment distances will be.
Kind regards
Lars
