Latest Rig Thinking (Now New And Improved!)

I am planning on putting backing plates and stainless T-nuts in the deck for all the deck fittings. To do that I need to know what all the deck fittings will be and where they will be located.  To do that I really need to have my rig approach solidified.

I joined a sailing club so I could sail while not owning a boat. Turned out I needed to join ASA (American Sailing Association) in order to join the club. Turns out that the ASA membership comes with a subscription to Sailing magazine. Unsurprisingly many vendors of sailing stuff advertise in this magazine.  While leafing through this magazine I came across this.

Company link here: Boom Kicker

The problem I was having is that trying to line up the forward end of the boom with the as designed angle meant long spars to hold the boom (from the bearing) that were looking heavy and unwieldy.  But if I have a way to hold the boom up from the bearing then I could get rid of the long spars and the topping lifts.

This also changes the nature of the rig. Even though it will have a wishbone it will in effect be a split conventional boom. That said, counting control lines I think it should be as simple to use as a real wishbone rig.  I'm counting 4 running lines, the vang, the outhaul, furling line and the mainsheet.  I'm no wishbone rig expert but I think it uses a snotter, a halyard, an outhaul, and a mainsheet (perhaps the outhaul could be considered standing rigging). So here is the concept.

 By using the Boom Kicker I can angle the boom up instead of down. So you still avoid hitting yourself in the face with the boom.  Things might get a bit crowded at the bearing so I will have to be careful of that.  In operation I would use the vang to adjust boom position to get the sail to share the tension between its upper and lower parts as needed. The outhaul is used to adjust overall sail tension and release the sail to be furled.

Next step is a little bit tough. I let my 3-D modeling subscription lapse (years ago) and now it will be expensive to re-up. So either I try to design the bearing in 2-D (I've never designed stuff in 2-D) or pay up to get back to what I'm used to using. Either way I'll build a bearing prototype before I commit the boat.