Safety first

Close to 30 years ago, sailing with our first sailboat, a B24 “Skärgårdskryssare” built 1924, we had a scary accident. Sailing downwind we made an unplanned gybe, with my head hitting the boom. An accident that can easily kill you but fortunately I missed some nasty brackets and cleats on the boom  – so it was wood against wood :-). Anyway, a lot of blood and an expensive taxi to hospital for stitches. This summer cruise has been mostly downwind, and even if all gybes have been planned, there is a lot of power that takes it toll on the boat, sail and equipment. At least three blocks have been damaged.
Therefore we decided to buy a “boom break”, a device that uses the friction of a line wound around a metal cylinder to slow down the gybe. Simple design, the fewer moving parts the better. We plan to have a sea trial tomorrow. Here is a youtube clip from the manufacturer.

Walder, a French manufacturer of boom brakes. This is the model 403H.