Who is cheating, me or Gary?

Actually, no one is cheating. This whole discussion is starting to
break down over lack of clarity of just what kind and configuration of
rig we are talking about. A stiff cruising rig has the same
underlying dynamics as a highly bendable and tunable racing rig but
the practical issues are very different. It's starting to sound a
little like the way individual poster's rigs behave is being presented
as gospel across the board.

I'll have to come back later and straighten this out.

--

Roger Long



"Rich Hampel" wrote in message
...
You're cheating.... runners apply tension and thus change the
natural
frequency of the mast. You are using them to correct luff sag and
as
a substiture as a backstay tensioner. I do it alll the time. But
thats NOT the purpose of runners .... they are primarily used to
apply
tension to change the natural frequency of the mast and dampen any
pumping ..... as a prime function.

In article cd5Pf.112815$B94.66779@pd7tw3no, Gary
wrote:

Roger Long wrote:
If the inner stay is removable and is only there to give you the
option of having a low, more inboard rig, for heavy weather, I
would
probably go with just runners and set them up whenever the inner
stay
was set. The original poster though said that his mast was
pumping.
That indicates a serious need for some intermediate support. I
wouldn't make the inner stay removable in his case. It makes
tacking
a bit of a pain with big jibs but also provides a great hand hold
on
the foredeck and the ability to have a double head rig in lighter
air.

The tracks you have are a nice refinement but not something I
would
suggest in the "keep it simple, keep it inexpensive" department.
It
takes a lot of structure and planning to support the full
strength of
the backstays all along a track even though it does spread the
load
out a bit.

My reasoning was, since the rig is designed as a sloop, and sailed
as
one for 25 years, the mast is going to stay up. Putting the inner
stay
on is a bit of a gimmick that the previous owner did because he
thought
the mast was pumping. I finished the runners to support the inner
stay
and keep the luff tight. I don't think the mast will ever come
down
now. It is a lttle extra insurance but not critical.