Boom Brakes, what are they, how do you use one

[@branni6538]

Essentially a figure eight that's used in abseiling.

[@allanmason3201]

Yes, it is a figure 8 abseiling device, only in stainless steel rather than alloy. One other teensy little difference is that the price of the things sold for use on sailboats is ten times the price of the devices sold to climbers. Because as every manufacturer and retailer selling to the recreational sailing community knows, *everyone* who has a sailboat has money to burn. (Well, everyone apart from me, apparently.)

[@nickmn6108]

Great explanation BUT if you are sailing downwind and want to change the sail position to the opposite side does that mean you have to go on the foredeck and change everything around?

[@VagabondEpicurean]

thanks for watching, no should not have to change the set up, the boom should swing slowly over

[@nickmn6108]

@@VagabondEpicurean Thanks for replying. Ah I see, I think the penny has dropped.......so from the figure of eight metal boom brake on the boom both ends go through a block on deck on EACH side (port and starboard) of the boat and BOTH sides (port ad starboard) to a cleat?

[@vidadepuerto]

great explanation!

[@VagabondEpicurean]

thanks and thanks for watching

[@hygeia2536]

Nice explanation of how these work.

[@VagabondEpicurean]

thank you

[@ParrotSailor]

Dom I would make up soft shackles and stropes instead of using hardward. You have a bad lead on that block

[@williesijdevander5514]

where can I buy theese boom brakes ?

[@bobgaysummerland]

The second guy didn’t spill his drink…but yes these are a very good idea.

[@honeybees1]

Thank you.

[@arkadybron1994]

Or you can buy a climbers descendeur for a fraction of the price and made from a more reliable material.

[@VagabondEpicurean]

true, thank you for watching

[@liamstone3437]

I just bought one (a descender for $7). Yes it costs less but it is smaller in size. But then my boat is only 15 feet so I am sure the 3500 kg rating is enough and it is made of aluminum. The Stainless steel boom brake would certainly be stronger and if I were on my dream boat (30 foot cutter) I would not hesitate to spend $60 for it. In any case the info here is useful.

[@malchugan2469]

Where is wind??

[@andvil01]

Maybe I will use my climbers repelling figure 8 on my small boat.

[@ajax1137]

Every video I've seen for these, shows them being tested in 5kts of breeze. Totally unrealistic. I bought one and did several test gybes in 10-12 knots of breeze and it's a complete waste of money. It utterly failed to slow the boom down at all unless I kept the line snugged tight in which case the boom brake became a "preventer" which simply prevented the gybe entirely. I should have bought the Wichard Gybe Easy boom brake.

[@slo007]

Did you upgrade in the end? How did it work out?

[@ajax1137]

@slo007 in the end, what made it work better was the aging of the line in the elements so that it wasn't so slick. Repositioning the line forward a bit also helped a little.

[@RustyKnorr]

@@ajax1137 SO you had it set up incorrectly, got it.

[@hooligan6a]

You could have done a better job of showing how the line was rigged.

[@VagabondEpicurean]

Hello Edward, sorry I will keep this in mind for other videos. tks for watching.