Thread: Stay tension
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Walt Walt is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 348
Default Stay tension

Charlie Morgan wrote:
Walt wrote:
Charlie Morgan wrote:
On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:38:14 -0500, Walt wrote:
Charlie Morgan wrote:
On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:19:22 -0500, Walt wrote:

Rig tension looks about right to me - very loose when the boat is not
actually under way. Why leave the rig under tension any longer than you
need to?

Because flex=fatigue. A rig left loose wears out faster as it flops around.


"Aside from performance and comfort benefits, rig tuning provides
safety and rig longevity. This is because loose wire will get
shock-loaded, which accellerates fatigue, and because tight wire will
load cycle closer to its elastic limit, which also accelerates
fatigue."


He's talking about keelboats, not drysailed dinghys ashore on the dolly.
With the latter (i.e. the boat that's in the picture) it's standard
practice to take the tension off when ashore. On many dinghys this
happens automatically when you drop the jib.

BTW, dinghy sailors know how to tune rig tension ourselves. We don't
need a $110/hr consultant to do it for us.

//Walt