Time had come to install the new Garhauer Rigid Vang.

I must admit that this is a first class piece of hardware. The quality is superb with all ball bearing blocks, and it certainly is a rugged unit. I don't know how they can sell this vang at approximately 35% of the cost of any other rigid vang. Before you ask, I do not work for Garhauer, but it sure is nice to find quality at a reasonable price.

Materials required:

Garhauer Stainless Steel Rigid Vang ($250.00 from Garhauer Marine)

14 ea. 1/4 - 28 x 1/2" hex head stainless steel bolts ($4.20 at Ace Hardware)

Total cost of this project: $254.20

The first step was to remove the canvas mast boot and then cut the mast boot tape away so that the vang mast bracket could be mounted as low as possible on the mast.

The Vang came with custom mast and boom brackets fabricated to the mast and boom shape drawings I supplied Garhauer. The mast bracket is attached with eight 1/4 - 28 NF stainless hex head bolts and the boom bracket is attached with six 1/4 - 28 NF stainless hex head bolts.

Next I drilled the eight pilot holes for the mast bracket, followed by drilling out to the proper size for the 1/4 - 28 tap. I then tapped all eight holes. The threads were liberally coated with anhydrous lanolin to prevent seizing.

After the mast bracket was installed, the vang was attached and adjusted. I then marked the location of the center pair of holes for the boom bracket on the boom. These were then drilled and tapped in the same manner as the holes for the mast bracket. The two center bolts were installed but the holes for the two forward most and two aft most bolts will be drilled and tapped after the boat is in the water and the main has been hoisted. This will allow for adjustment of the position of the boom bracket by approximately 2 inches in either direction if required. (This is the procedure that Garhauer recommended.