I actually know what that is. Back in the Old Silurian period (a million years ago next November according to Mark Twain) I learned to sail racing on an Alberg 30 with a roller furling boom. In those days - remember, dinosaurs still roamed the earth - a roller furling boom had a gear next to the gooseneck - with a hand crank - that turned the boom, and the mainsail wrapped around the outside of the boom to reef. In order to do this, one first had to disconnect the vang from the boom. The contraption you're holding made that easy. it was snapped on the boom just forward of mid-boom using the slot between the two "rollers" (they actually didn't roll on the one we used, maybe they do on yours). The vang was connected to the bottom. When reefing, the contraption was removed and the crank used to wrap the sail around the boom. Once the sail was wrapped around the boom, the contraption was reattached, with the "rollers" sitting on the sail. The skipper didn't like that, but it was the only option.
I was called on to reef the sail on rare occasion - Alberg 30s are pretty stiff boats, but they are slow, too, so we sometimes got stuck out in squalls. So, I have actually used a similar piece of equipment. I'd ask if you wanted to get rid of it - my 1966 O'Day Daysailer has an original roller furling boom which has no attachment for a vang when reefed, per above. However, because the boom's so small I doubt yours would fit. If anyone has a tiny version, please let me know. Then I could use the roller furler when my one slab reef point isn't enough, which is any time I get stuck out in a storm on that boat - it has only human ballast. I could reef to my heart's content. They don't make 'em like they used to. Wait, that's good, I think. Dan SheerPegathy - LF38Rock Creek off the Patapsco
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
