Adel
others have changed from self tacking with the club boom to non self tacking and conventional sheets. There are pros and cons for both, but the boat allows both options. When i had the problem of the aft end of the club boom catching the foredeck i put an extra shackle in the rope loop which holds the club boom to the bow fixing this raised my jib just enough to help clear the club boom hitting the deck.
It may also be down to too much mast rake caused by the shrouds being too tight, this causes the jib triangle to lean back and as such the aft end of the club boom hits the foredeck.
Another possibility is the method of attaching the rope loop to the bow fixing, the image in the handbook shows the loop folded over the boom, before seeing this i twisted and double up the loop, fed the loop over the club boom and attached the shackles this resulted in a shorter loop and as such put the club boom closer to the foredeck. The result is the front of the club is closer to the deck, it still swings clear but the aft end of the club boom catches the deck.
On your comment of the "metal pieces" at the bottom, i assume you’re talking about the stainless tabernacle for the mast, no concerns or reports of failures have ever been mentioned on the forum as far as i have read. The fixing of the tabernacle to the foredeck has a couple of posts mentioning the screws becoming loose however; this i believe is awaiting the yards comments.
Have dived the red sea on a couple of occasions and the coral heads are often just below the surface, some are buoyed i guess many are not; i was surprised at the strength of the currents at times and the occasional rough sea state.
Peter
