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I 've just sailed (motored) "Aurora" (#253) from Islamorada FL back to the Chesapeake. It was a quiet (little wind, what there was mostly on the nose) passage with the main sheeted in tight as we motored north in the gulfstream. The poor mariner (me) spent a good deal of time standing forward of the helm holding on to the sissy bar at the aft part of the dodger: this put(s) the aft end of the boom right in the face. I'm convinced that I want to shorten the boom so that it's not a skull smasher in this scenario. I'm thinking a fully battened main with as much roach as possible to make up for the
loss of sail area due to the shorter foot. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery? A new main is lots of $'s, but if someone were to get his teeth knocked out from a flogging main, it would be a good deal more. Regards

I think that the boom is too short as it is! I wouldn't want to make the main any smaller plus it may affect the balancing of the sails....
How tall are you? I'm 5'-11" and don't have an issue but could see that if your roach didn't have enough tension, then the boom might drop to the point where it could be an issue. Are you able to achieve full hoist??? (no Viagra jokes intended )

I would agree with TL,

Are you able to get the roach tight when needed? If not perhaps the sail could be corrected but I would mess with the rig.

You have a dodger correct, on our boat there is really no way to get clocked in the head with the boom when youre in the cockpit since the dodger extends just to the point of the ened of the boom. If there were no dodger than I could see your concern becasue we cannot stand up under the dodger.

One thoughr that I had was regret that I didn't have the the dodger made to extend further aft: then upon looking at the cockpit space left forward of the helm pedestal with such a larger (longer) dodger one might conclude that's not such a good option. A fix is to cut a dart from the foot of the sail, raising the aft end of the boom out of the way. There are purported advantages to a fully battened main, one being that when motor sailing there is less flogging going on. Do any of you horny handed Tartan sailors have feedback as to how accurate that might be?

Conch,
I have a full batten main and it doesn't flog nearly as much as a partially battened when motor sailing. I will often alter my course a few degrees to minimize the flogging anyway, but full battens are the way to go....plus they will help the sail keep its shape when it gets old and stretched.

This is an interesting issue. I just purchased hull #413 recently and have the same issue. that boom end is right in my face!! I haven't gotten back down to the boat to sail it and sort this out. My first thought was a little longer dodger. But I can't remember the cockpit details. I will look at this. If this doesn't look good then to recut the mail a little would probably raise it up just enough. Probably 6 inches would do. It is a full batten sail.

Did you find a solution?

I just got a new cross cut full battened main and bi lateral cut genny... The main is so much larger than the old, the roach being the primary difference. It is about 1" from the back stay, just enough to pass without chafe. Even with the main sheeted in tight I don't find the boom annoying or dangerous. I rarely sit directley in the middle of the boat so maybe that is why it doesn't bother me. I'm either seated under the dodger or at the helm, when sail usually at the helm to either side depending on my tack. My point being, maybe you sail can be cut so the boom its "in your face" vs. shortening the boom which will require a recut on the sail anyway I would assume.

Just my $.02

Was a time before loose footed mainsails that a flatting reef was put in the leech about 12-18" up from the full hoist clue ring. The idea was to pull the "draft" out of the foot, upwind, in a bit of a breeze. If that were installed and utilized, the boom would be up and out of the way. On my Mainsail the 1st and second reefs are also cut to pull the boom up out of harms way and just about the same boom height as the flattner provides, that way the vang does not need to be adjusted immediately
when going from reef to reef.
You may just need to reef the main to get the boom up.

My dodger is longer and keeps you from getting hit by the boom. The canvas girl wanted to shorten the dodger and I said no way. When sailing make certain the hoist is fully raised. I know went using cuttingham or downhill that will cause the boom end to drop. I would not shorten the sail foot, too short already at 12ft. I would go with recut main or remake dodger.

I pulled the trigger and had Jerry Lattel in Deltaville make a new fully battened main. He cut the clew higher so the "boom in the face" is a thing of the past. Beautiful shape and the efficiency of the sail when motor sailing is much better. I had the Ullman "stack pack" installed: mixed reviews on that. I miss being able to raise and lower the sail w/o heading directly into the breeze. All in all a great improvement. I'm headed south to the keys again in a couple of weeks: anybody want to make the trip?
Doug Long (434) 962 5538