STAYSAIL AND HOYT BOOM

With due respect to a fine Island Packet sailor who has tossed the boom overboard, the staysail and Hoyt boom on Charmed will remain as rigged by the factory! And I opine, no IP should get sold without the boom and staysail, now an option on some models.

Today was a pleasant and fast downhill run from Cocoa to Vero Beach. Wind was 20 knots, with gusts and long periods of wind well over thirty knots. Direction varied from about 150 degrees apparent starboard tack to 150 degrees apparent port tack as we meandered down the waterway. The staysail added well over a half knot, maybe a whole knot at times, to motoring speed, and it smoothed the ride on the “very rough ICW”. There were whitecaps the whole way and two to three foot seas in the bigger lakes.

The picture above shows the staysail set from the cockpit. You can see you need the boom to manage the clew of the sail in heavy winds from behind. Singlehanding the sail including controlling the gybes was easy even in the narrow waterway.