For decades, the dirk was part of the manoeuvring ritual of every yacht, whether large or small, but the compact boom support at the foot of the mast has long since established itself on ships over 28 feet. An invention that is as simple as it is practical: a powerful spring in an aluminium or carbon telescopic tube holds the boom and sail in a horizontal position. It doesn't matter whether the force comes from a metal or gas pressure spring, the main thing is that the boom is no longer needed.
The kicker solves many problems: no additional handle is needed when recovering the sail to prevent the main boom from falling, no boom support has to be fished out of the back box to give it a fixed position in the harbour, no more line chafing against the leech of the mainsail all day long. Furthermore, boom kickers even help to improve the trim of the mainsail, almost compensating for the use of a traveller.
The market, on the other hand, is far less varied, with kickers mainly being offered by rig manufacturers and hardly any accessory producers taking on this product. We have summarised the most important products in our market overview.
