Boom Brakes, what do they do how do you use them http://dreamgreen.org/products/boat-parts/176-boom-brakes #boombrake

Closed Captions (CC):
[Music]

our mateys hey today I want to talk

about boom brakes what are they what do

they used for and how do you use them

well it's a pretty simple apparatus this

is a boom brake by captain dime stolid

stainless steel it's heavy it's easy to

use you need a couple more things to

make it work but what they do is they

help prevent inadvertent jibes you know

in the boom just swing straight across

or erratic movements of the of the boom

and boom strikes or boom hits are

probably the second maybe even the first

leading cause of injuries and serious

ones on a on a sailboat not only is you

know it's dangerous for people to have

that boom just swinging back and forth

uncontrollable it can do damage to your

boat well the idea here is really pretty

simple what we're going to do is we're

going to set this up and I just want to

give you some idea here how it works so

here we're going to attach this to the

boom I've got this that I'm going to use

you could tie it to the boom and and you

know can I have it you want it probably

like mine is going to be 2/3 of the way

back again you kind of have to work with

that a little bit as to where it's going

to be but well the principle of it is

quite simple

friction for example here now you've got

your line and you need a separate line

for this and so you're going to come

through here lay it over the top now

that creates a certain amount of

friction let's see if I get this tight

enough here yeah alright here we are

let's say it's like this now the boom

starts to swing you see you can still

move the boom to by the way now you got

a little bit of friction

say it's windier real simple just lay

that over the top like this now you've

got additional friction you know so you

have to experiment with it a little bit

like anything else but that's the basic

concept is to help eliminate accidental

jibes or erratic movement of the boom

I'm going to hook this up and show you

how it works we're just going to swing

it a little bit so a couple of things

that you're going to need you're going

to need some way of attaching this to

your boom you're going to need to attach

the the bitter end to a secure location

on the bolt like I did here then run the

line through a block and back to your

cockpit so that you can control it the

idea is you're going to let this line in

and out with the with the boom you don't

want it slack like this you want it to

be tight so let's set this up we'll see

how it works so you can see right now I

have it cleat it off and what I'm going

to do is when I work it a little bit

more and think I'm going to put you know

one of these jam cleat somewhere and

maybe even over here or something like

this so that I can release it and

tighten it quicker than having to pleat

and on cleat it because I'm so low

sailing the easier you make it the safer

things are going to be for you

now I like how captain Don mounted his

boom break on the boom rather than

putting all that stress on that one

little bar there where he's got it

latched lashed to the to the boom

I like that another recommendation is to

run a line from the gooseneck to the end

of the boom and hang the boom brake on

that so you're not putting a lot of

pressure on the boom in one particular

spot now I set that up on my boat I'm

going to try that for a little bit I

also went ahead and I put the cam cleat

in you know once you get this set you

really don't need to do a lot of

adjusting so I'm probably going to be

able to cut the amount of line that I

have here so there's less line to get

tangled up you know in bad seas or just

a trip over and so forth just a couple

more ideas though to take a look at

well one of the first things I'm going

to do I'm going to show you we're going

to put the camera out on the dock and

I'm just going to push the boom and

you'll see how fast it swings then we'll

hook up the boom break we'll do the same

thing and you'll see the safety aspects

of this

you

so now you'll see how that friction is

kind of keeping the boom from swinging

wildly and if I put that line if I wrap

it around that center post it's going to

tighten up even more and the boom will

swing even slower and which is probably

going to be good under heavier wind

conditions and that's just how easy it

is to set this up you know and for some

additional information check out

captain Don's website gives an

explanation of what we've just gone over

and a little bit more in detail of how

the boom brakes work and how to set them

up you know guys as long as you're on

the website Captain Don has an Excel

spreadsheet to help you figure out you

know a little bit more technical about

where the boom break goes and some other

things you know I'm basically covering

recreational cruising sailing you guys

that are doing racing you may want to

look at this form help you figure out

where the most efficient places to mount

the boom break well there you have it

guys it's just that easy to help prevent

an accident and save your equipment boom

breaks a great addition to your sailing

arsenal

well happy and safe boating to you your

family and friends