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David Holmes reflects on the success of his simple boom brake
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I recently installed a DIY boom brake on my Westerly Merlin–a Kong figure-of-eight aluminium descender, appropriated from the world of rock climbing for the princely sum of £8.95 from ebay.
I looked at various boom brakes on the market, many had good reviews and most had eye-watering price tags.
There’s often confusion between the role of a boom brake and a preventer. They’re actually complementary to each other, but carry out different roles.
The preventer is essentially a length of rope that extends from the end of the boom, goes forward to the bow, and then back to the cockpit. Its primary function is to prevent the boom from gybing, and it’s especially useful during long offshore passages when sailing downwind. By securing the boom and preventing it from swinging uncontrollably, the preventer acts as a crucial safety measure. It’s simple, reliable, tried and tested.
The boom brake
A boom brake works in the opposite manner. In this situation, you are actually intending to gybe, so the boom brake’s purpose is to take the energy out of the boom as it swings across. It soaks this energy up by adding a lot of friction. This prevents the boom from slamming over to the opposite side and avoids any abrupt impact which could damage the boat or injure the crew.
While my boom brake is a work in progress, it has been effective in improving the safety and control of the boat during gybes as well as enhancing the light air performance.
In the research phase, the basic figure-of-eight-style boom brake appeared to receive the least favourable reviews and comments in terms of its effectiveness. One concern is that the loops around the ‘8’ can slip upwards and become jammed. Another valid concern is its lack of suitability for larger boats.
To set up mine, I started by tying off a line on the port midship cleat. This line then runs through the boom brake (which is attached to a fitting on the boom) and consists of two turns where the friction occurs. From there, the line extends to a block on the starboard midship cleat, loops back around a jam cleat, and finally returns to a self-tailing winch in the cockpit. Tightening the line is crucial for the boom brake to function effectively, as it adds friction around the fitting to absorb the energy.
If the line isn’t tight, the boom brake doesn’t really do anything. It’s just idle. But once tightened, the brak
