Gooseneck/boom height on a Triton?

[kabauze]

I've got a question for the Triton gang. Nevermind is a West Coast boat with a fractional rig. At some point a previous owner replaced the original mast with a tapered spar from an early East Coast boat. In a few weeks I'm going to unstep the mast to refurbish it, and I want to convert the sliding gooseneck to a fixed position. But what's the right height of the gooseneck from the deck? Another thread in the forum (http://triton381.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=76) lists one boat as having its lower band 2'9" off the deck. Is that what others have? What height have you found convenient?

I'm hesitant to simply reuse the position I have now. The boom seems low, and my main is cut too long; the boom has to hang very low to get a full hoist. I know the system's not right.

The Triton sailplan is beautiful but doesn't show a gooseneck height, only a luff length for the main. I suppose I should measure the mast height and come up with an answer myself. Hmm, I'll make some measurements today.



Thanks -

Todd

[Tim]

2'-9" (33") seems about right. It's been a while since I measured mine, and I don't recall exactly, but that seems spot on. I know it was just under 3'.

I originally had a black band on the spar at that location, and that's where my new gooseneck is installed. I have since sanded and painted over the original band.

That roughly corresponds with what the drawing shows, too, though I didn't try to scale it. But visually, what the drawing shows is how mine is set up, and where the black band is/was.

Will you be getting a new mainsail once you relocate and fix the gooseneck?

[kabauze]

Well, I took some measurements this afternoon down at the boat. Needless to say, it was an afternoon of surprises!

The mainsail tack, which is where the black band would be if I had one, is 31" off the deck. That means it's a couple of inches lower than it should be. That explains why I thought the boom was low.

The bigger surprise (isn't there always a surprise!) is that the main sheave is only 33'2" off the deck, and the whole mast (including masthead fitting) is probably 33'10". Obviously I won't be getting a 33' luff on my main without the boom sweeping the deck!

My first reaction after taking the measurements was to locate the tequila hidden in the bilge, but after that, I started thinking about something the previous owner had told me. He said, "The main is from a masthead Triton and it's a little long, so the boom hangs a little low". This never made sense to me since masthead mains have a shorter luff than the fractionals...but now, I see. I have a mast that's only as high as the mast on a masthead-rigged Triton. Sheesh.

Now that I think about it, this probably explains a lot of the weather helm that the boat has under certain conditions. In essence, I have a masthead rig but am running very small jibs on it (due to the fractional rig).

Wow, nothing is ever what it seems with these boats!

Thanks, Tim, for your reply.

[Case]

kabauze wrote:

Wow, nothing is ever what it seems with these boats!

Oh yes... That is the charm and annoyance of a Triton. From my incessant reading about the Triton, I recall that many of the West Coast Tritons did not have a consistent rig size. Some was fractional, some was masthead and the height varied. Perhaps your boat was rigged for San Francisco and got a shorter fractional rig instead of the standard masthead rig or the taller East Coast fractional rig.

Weather Helm? Well... use a bigger headsail or a smaller main. That and the usual fiddling with the rig is about all the advice I can offer you. Since it looks like you're getting a new mainsail and it will be slightly smaller than the old one, you might already be on track on improving the weather helm.

- Case

[Tim]

The yawl-rigged fractional Triton also had a shorter mainmast, which seems to roughly correspond with the shorter west-coast fractional sloop rig as well.

If your spar came from an east coast boat, it was likely a yawl. Or so the anecdotal evidence would seem to indicate...

[Hirilondë]

My Renegade came with a fixed gooseneck fitting. Whoever installed it placed it too high. When my main is raised all the way the head board and top batten foul on the back stay. I am switching to a sliding goose neck. What reasons do people have for choosing one over the other (fixed vs sliding)?

In my case I want to be able to raise the boom higher than sailing height for the boom awning I want to have made next year. I am having a zipper installed on my new dodger this year to attach the awning to.

[Figment]

Sliding goosenecks are tricky with a rigid vang, if you have one. It can be made to work, but it's less than ideal.

I'd think you could have the top of the sail trimmed down for a lot less hassle and money than converting the gooseneck.