A powerful vang is not needed. I find it helpful for adjusting sail shape
on all points of sail., but it doesn't require frequent adjustment.
On my lateen rig, I use the Sunfish "vang" - a line that pulls downward on
the gooseneck. It becomes important in strong winds to keep the sail from
billowing excessively.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
gunter or lateen rig
Mountain View, CA
>Since a couple people have asked, here's the "recipe" for my el-cheapo build
>it yourself boom vang.
>
>Shopping list:
>
>15 ft of 1/4" Dacron line
>qty. 1 Harken 244 Fiddle block w/ integral v-cleat West Marine 289975 $17.18
>qty. 1 Harken 235 Single block w/ becket and shackle West M. 253351 $9.39
>
>The above is all you need to make the vang. Attaching it to the mast and boom
>can be done in a number of ways, most of them simpler than what I did. Since
>not a whole lot of force can be put on the slender boom of the P-15, an
>eyestrap on the bottom of the boom and some kind of bale at the bottom of the
>mast, each attached with pop-rivets is likely to be cheap and adequate. Thats
>the way the blocks for the mainsheet are held on and it appears to work fine.
>
>But, since I am a little twisted in the head and didn't want to install
>something where the fasteners are loaded in tension I did something that is
>simple when you look at it, but a little difficult to explain:
>On both the mast and the boom end I threaded a short piece of 3/16" line
>through a stainless steel ring (West Marine 111609 $4.49) and tied the ends
>of the line together so I have a loop of line with a ring on it. Wrapping the
>loop around the spar, pass the ring through the loop -as it is pulled tight
>it grips the spar. To locate the loop on the spar I mounted a little plastic
>fairlead (West Marine 111064 $2.59/pair) on the top (!) of the boom and on
>the forward side of the mast. This way, the stresses caused by the vang are
>distributed over the contact area of the loop of line and the screws (that
>hold the fairleads on) have very little force on them, and all of it in
>shear. I'm not recommending that anyone copy my example, but that's how I did
>it.
>
>The rings are nice for rigging. I used to remove the vang completely and
>therefore had a fast-pin on the boom end and one of those cheap brass snap
>shackles on the mast end. In my quest for ever-shorter rigging time I now
>leave it attached to the boom all the time and store the boom in the cabin.
>
>If anyone wants more details, email me and I'll do my best to explain it
>better.
>
>
>Dave Kautz
>P-15 #1632 Tilly Lucy
>Palo Alto, CA
>