The Ballad Exchange

I thinking of ditching my topping lift for a Boomkicker (http://boomkicker.com/). Has anyone had experience with this unit on a Ballad, and if so which model did you choose?

Thanks.
Peter

Hello,
As your question is over a year old, I suppose you have your boomkicker already mounted. My question is how you did it. I bought a used Swedish boom kicker at a good price. I kindly ask you to share your van fitting. I have some problems with this piece of metal. As my mast is the original profile from 1972, its shape is less square than modern ones. Kind of difficult to find a ready-made fitting to mount a boom or vang. My boom fitting crashed last season, so I have two of them to fabricate.
Kind regards.
Andy

I also would like to hear from Boomkicker owners. It is preferred to a rigid vang on our Ballad due to an additional deck hatch. K800, or K1000 model best? They are the same except for rod stiffness, so you can swap rods if needed to get the force correct. I also like the idea of quick-releasing the soft vang to use as a block and tackle for lifting stuff aboard.