I have a floating boom and sail stops along with a Cunningham directly to the sail and they both seem to work out well. George Merry Helen II M15 #602 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of W David Scobie Sent: Friday, December 06, 2013 4:17 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Downhaul system Chris (and others reading): to get an idea for what the sliding gooseneck fitting looks like follow this link - https://www.dwyermast.com/itemdetails.asp?itemID=30 look at item #8, the slide. (the boom side of the gooseneck is close, though not 100% the same as the boats built by Jerry.) my M15, and my M17 had the sailfeed slot's modified by prior owners just a few inches above the mast. a PITA for loading the sail and boom, in additon makes it impossible to use a bolt rope luff (can't reef) and can be problematic for reefing with slugs. this must have become a popular modification at some point as as i've purchased to M-boats that have the same change. to convert my M17 i can't re-bend where the original slot was located as the alum will break. i plan to cut out the slot location. i like the fixed gooseneck for a couple of reasons - #1 is the boom doesn't slam down onto the cabintop when lowing the sail (to take down or when reefing). i've found that using a sail stop works most of the time .. but seems to come loose and then doesn't stop the boom. #2 using a cunningham to control the main's luff tension is very easy and does not require a huge amount of leverage. to control the luff with a moving gooseneck requires a LOT of effort and, because of line stretch, requires repeated adjustment as the wind increases (that is increasingly difficult to do as the wind speed increases). :: Dave Scobie :: former M15 owner - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com -------------------------------------------- On Fri, 12/6/13, Chris Smith <chris.r.smith@gmail.com> wrote: This is a quite timely conversation for me, as I've recently replaced the mast and boom on my M15. My old mast had the boom fixed, but the new mast has the sailfeed opening very low. I was considering using a floating boom so I don't have to cut another, higher opening for the sail above a fixed boom. David, you mention that you like the fixed boom more. Why is that? Clearly, it's worth it to you to go fixed boom... Daniel, it seems like you like your floating boom. Why? Also, does anyone have a picture of a floating boom gooseneck on their M15? It'd be great to see what one looks like. Thus far I've been envisioning a slug attached to 1/2 of the gooseneck that would ride up and down the sail slot. The stop is something I overlooked! Thanks to all for any pro/con discussion on fixed vs floating boom. I've done some reading on it and it seems to be a matter of preference... Really, I just need to make a decision on whether or not to cut a new hole in the mast to feed the sail. Good stuff! Thanks all! Chris M15 Persephone