Q: My boat is a 1974 C&C 30 with a gooseneck fitting that is set very low on the mast. What would you think of raising the gooseneck 12 inches? As it is, it isn’t possible to use a conventional boom vang, and fitting a dodger under the boom is out of the question.
Danforth Smith, Port Wing, WI
WIN FOWLER REPLIES
I would think raising the gooseneck on your boat would be a worthwhile project. You’ll lose a little sail area, but that area is probably in the least efficient part of your sailplan, so the performance loss should be minimal. It seems a small price to pay for a dodger and a working vang.
There are a couple of ways your sailmaker could recut your mainsail to accommodate this change: you can cut off the foot and raise it, or cut a wedge out of the luff and move the head down the leech. The latter is preferable, as it allows you to retain the full length of the foot, and it raises the clew slightly relative to the tack, giving you just a little more clearance for that dodger. Of course, if you build an entirely new main to fit the higher boom, you may be able to add a little extra roach, which will more than make up for the lost area in the foot.
