I have decided to take the plunge and attach an adjustable outhaul to my boom. I have purchased a kit, but it's a wave boom and so the ropes are way too long.
How do I decide
1. where to put the cleats on the boom arms so they don't get in the way while gybing ?
2. how long to have the ropes which start at the cleat, go around the block and back through the cleat? I don't want a huge length hanging down.
3. how long to have the rope at the clew end.
It is a 140 - 190 boom which fits my 4m - 6.4m sails.
The back end arrangement will have two blocks on the boom end and the rope passing through the sail clew eyelet.
Thanks
Anita
Anita i was just talking about this the other day i saw Norts [Recycle] has the best set up if seen so far with a shock cord above the boom head at the top of the zip on both sides atached to both ends of your out haul rope so you dont have any flapy bits to wrap around your wrists i did some pumping on JJs rig the other week and found the rope rapped around my wrist on my back hand as for the rest of the set up i have no idea! Good luck with your set up!
Obviously, you need to put the cleat close enough that you can reach the rope to adjust it, but far enough away that you can pull the rope without bending you arm too much. I put mine about 15-20cm out of reach while sailing, but the end of the rope is attached to my harness rope so I can reach it. Downside is that I have accidentally caught it in my harness hook once, the result of which was a bit painful. 
My next experiment is to use a thin bungee cord attached to the end of rope and the other end attached to the boom head. This should keep it in reach and stop it flapping around. I have seen this idea used buy Formula racers but they just put the bungee around the front of the mast and back to the rope on the other side of the boom. (I only run a cleat on one side of my boom).
Let us know what you try. :-)
Hey Anita!
Hope this helps:
1. As far back as possible (obviously youve still gotta reach them though). The amount of space you have to play with for the pulley systems maybe a factor too.
2 and 3: your big sail has to fit with the outhaul let all the way out, and your small sail has to fit with the outhaul cranked all the the way in with the boom at the appropriate lengths for each sail, with a little bit of room to play the blue rope at either boom length.
So you want the block n cleat to almost be closed on each other when the small sail is pulled out to max outhaul, and a bit of play when when the big sail is let out to min outhaul. So the excess black white rope can be cut when the blue ropes are all the way on (small sail). The blue ropes can be cut when the outhaul is all the way out (big sail)
Knot the ropes at the lengths you think are going to work first , check twice, cut once. dont forget to match the lengths of blue rope either side when checking. 
Try to leave a bit of extra rope until you have decided how you want the setup, and don't forgot to allow for your different sail sizes. 
I tried couple of different setups including having a shock cord around the front(which I hated)
Now I have the cleat 90 degrees to vertical, and just close enough that I can reach the cleat itself, without having to lean over... I find that simpler and you still can get your hand on the boom past the cleat as the ropes aren't in the way.
Tie one of these to both ends of the line that goes thru your boom end then when you rig up just attach them to the small pully that is provided with the outhaul kit.
Will save you a ton of time and effort if you tie the outhaul directly to the pulleys.
You can get them at any good sailing shop.
Anita, go and get a few of the chinook sail out haul pulleys that bolt through the clew of the sail, it will save you lots of frustration when rigging. I found that surf sail in leederville keeps a stock of them.
Also set your boom to the shortest length you use it at and place/tie the pulley off so it is about two inches short of the cleat( I found it easier to actually rig the sail to do the adjusting) then go up to your biggest sail and check again.
The most effective shock cord system I had was all the way around the mast and back down to the cleats, the outhaul rope was long enough to go around the mast with the shock cord knot being near the harness lines. To adjust it was physically easier to pull the leeward line.
I have given up on using shock cord as i was always having to fiddle with it and just let the rope tails flap, it doesn't bother me with the cleat in the right position it is a short reach behind your back hand to find it or plus the only time I adjust is at the bottom of the speed run where I pull it on before heading out into the sound
I think it does have two loops.
Just the bottom of the left loop is exactly lined up with the top of the right.
Not the best angle for the photo
Thanks for the advice.
I set up my adjustable outhaul with the biggest sail the other day and took it for a sail. The adjustability was great and the difference in performance was clear until the outhaul decided to adjust itself! The Clam cleats are not designed for narrow grip booms and even the rubber shim included was not enough to stop the clam cleat from slipping right down the boom arm to the end. I shall try a piece of neoprene underneath.
I like the idea of the lobster claw attachment. I am not good at tying bowlines so I shall look for some if I ever get near a sailing shop.
I bought a chinook double pulley for the sail clew from Windforce yesterday, that should simplify things.
Thanks for the diagrams Lao. I knew you would have some useful input.
Self amalgamating tape works great under the clamcleats also.
On my Chinook carbon boom I found I had to make the main adjusting line longer so the pulley blocks are further down the boom arms so it didnt rub on the monofilm.
I also replaced the stainless pulley blocks supplied in the kits with plastic Ronstan RF13101 kite blocks. Downside to this is you have to run thinner 4mm rope.
Select to expand quoteWindxtasy said..Windxtasy said...
Thanks for the advice.
I set up my adjustable outhaul with the biggest sail the other day and took it for a sail. The adjustability was great and the difference in performance was clear until the outhaul decided to adjust itself! The Clam cleats are not designed for narrow grip booms and even the rubber shim included was not enough to stop the clam cleat from slipping right down the boom arm to the end. I shall try a piece of neoprene underneath.
The neoprene was too thick to fit under the clamcleat. A left over piece of EVA boom grip was just right though. Slightly thicker than the shim supplied but longer, so it wraps right around the boom. It certainly feels firm. Here's hoping it holds under load.
This arrangement lasted for a few sessions but the clamcleat slipped again last time I sailed. Grrrr. I have used the self amalgamating tape this time. I think I am finally getting this system worked out, long gaps between sessions hasn't helped.
I am interested in the bungee cord arrangement. What cord do you use and how do you set it up?
Oh boy here I go
Anita, I just leave them at home. why complicate a day on the water, keep it simple 
And yes I know I'm swimming upstream with adjustable O/H's and have not answered Anita's Q, but hey that's my 2c 
Anita. Cut up some bike tube.
Wrap it around the boom to the required thickness.
Clamp it up tight.
All done!!!!
I use adjustable on all sails down to 5.1
Saved my bacon a few times when the wind had dropped or got up a lot!!!!
Even easier......you have to trap one end of the line so just put this under the cleat clamp (with a knot so it won't pull through).
It will never slip now.
