"Wayne.B" wrote
I second that advice. A good professional rigger will get the job
done much more quickly and accurately.


In a previous life, I was one of those . But, any handy sailor should be
able to set up a masthead cruising rig.

A Loos gauge may be useful as a final check, but you will probably need the
large one.

For a cruising boat with masthead rig, you need to first of all decide how
much rake you need. This is usually not known, but if boat has weather helm,
mast should be close to vertical and forward in base, if it can be adjusted.
If it has lee helm, mast base should be further aft and mast should be raked
more. For a start, I would put mast base in centre position and rake top of
mast about 1 mast diameter by adjusting forestay/backstay accordingly - use
rigging links if forestay has non-adjustable furling.

Uppers, backstay & forestay should be made about hand tight - Not so tight
so as to bend mast (use main halyard or topping lift pulled tight to
gooseneck and sight up mast track to check for straightness)

Uppers should then be adjusted so that top of mast is centred athwartships.
Use the main halyard and distance from top of mast to toerail is equal on
each side.

Then take up on lowers and adjust them so mast is kept straight - Keep
double checking by sighting up mast track.

Once everything looks good, take up a few turns starting with uppers, then
backstay/forestay then lowers and check and adjust again for straightness.
Exact tension is not important, but stays should be tight enough to go
sailing. Loos have a guide to the tension needed by wire size in this link:
http://www.saltyjohn.co.uk/resources...the%20Loos.pdf

Go sailing in about 10-12 knots and watch rig. Leeward uppers and lowers
should not be loose. As wind increases, some "loos"ness should develop at
say 15-20 knots.

A backstay adjuster that can relieve forestay/backstay tension at dock is a
good idea - otherwise boat needs to be stiff and not deform under the
constant load.

Good Luck!