Thanks, Dan. The gallows I'm considering would be mounted to the coamings, as with the new M23 Offshore Cutter, or even outside the coamings. It would be outside the cockpit, and would only affect headroom as far as cockpit space goes. Also, in order to align with the end of the boom, it would be significantly inboard of the transom, again, as with the M23, and would not interfere with the outboard at all, which I always mount and unmount while standing on the tarmac before launch anyway. The gallows would keep the boom at bay, would provide a good support for a cockpit boom tent, and a great support when stepping and trailering the mast. It would interfere somewhat when going forward/aft as it would have to be a "duck-under" in order to be at boom height, but I think the "duck-under" hassle might be offset by the fact that it would eliminate getting whacked in the head by the boom. A topping left is a good, inexpensive alternative, but doesn't have the other advantages I've cited. As with most features on traditional boats, the boom-gallows is a very sensible, functional accessory. And it is employed on recent production boats such as the ComPac Sun Cat. As a matter of fact, I've climbed around on the Sun Cat at boat shows, and the gallows wasn't an obstruction, but a good hand-hold. 'Course, helps that I'm only 5' tall. The link below illustrates the boom-gallows' advantage in rigging the Sun Cat. Granted, the wonderful hinged mast on the Sun Cat facilitates the operation, but I can see the advantage with the M17 eck-stepped. --Craig, [EMAIL PROTECTED]; m17 #389
http://www.yachtworks.net/images/NewBOATS/RiggingSunCat.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan White" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2004 11:27 AM Subject: boom-gallows My thought would be that ba gallows would severely interfere with movement of people in the cockpit. Tasks such as mounting and unmounting the outboard, for example, would become cumbersome. Why not just use a topping lift and then lash the boom to stern cleats to eliminate the port/starboard swing of the boom if it is a problem? Dan M-17 #316-B Honshells wrote: A boom-gallows on an M17: Any reason why it shouldn't be done? _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
