One thing I did run into after having read through the various posts on this topic is the following; where to place the boom relative to the mast when shore-launching with a second reef in the main? In other words, when setting up from scratch - and the sail not reefed - raising the main will result in the boom arriving at somewhat fixed point on the mast. A couple of weekends ago, when preparing to launch the boat, the conditions suggested I'd better start out with a second reef in the main. In going through the (normal) set up procedure, I came to realize that I could place the boom essentially anywhere on the mast, and wondered how to approach this. In the end I somewhat guessed on a location, one where the boom wasn't going to hit me in the head, but also no so high that the remaining portion of the sail was 5 feet above the cabin. Is this as simple as marking the mast with some type of label to indicate where the boom would/should normally interface with it? -----Original Message----- From: Alex Conley <conley.alex@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2022 1:29 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Cc: John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> Subject: M_Boats: Re: sailing in gusty winds - what to do Seeing these responses now as I catch up on house stuff (sadly our mountain reservoir really drops away late in the irrigation season, meaning we have to pull the boat by labor day or risk having it stuck in the mud all winter...). The vang come into play as soon as you start loosening the main sheet- with the vang the sail swings like a door and keeps its controlled shape; without a vang even a few inches of letting out the main sheet (as soon as the sheet is not pulling straight down) the shape of the sail starts to change as the boom lifts and the leach curves- - the sail quickly loses its wing shape and bellies forward, with the top part twisting further out than the bottom part of the sail. That said I've spent many happy hours sailing our M15 without one- telltales and a good outhaul are way cheaper tweaks to start with! Re outhaul- here's my basic rig- except I used an old block without a becket, so just tied the line to the boom end fitting, out through sail, back through block and to cleat- nice 2 part purchase that makes it easier to make fine adjustments under sail- way better than just tieing the sail to the boom end fitting as was the previous set up. Happy sailing all! [image: image.png]