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

How do you do it? Do you sail on one tack with about a 20knot wind and
check the leeward shrouds and tighten the turnbuckles until there's no slack.
And, then come about and sail on the other tack and do the other side? That's
the best way to do it if you don't have some special too. That's what I was
told at least. Oh the forestay you have to tighten so it stays pretty straight
when sailing with your jib. That automatically tightens up the back stay.
But when you have only three stays like my Tangerine it gets more complicated.
Three's harder to get right than four.

Cheers,
Ellen

"Ellen MacArthur" wrote in message
reenews.net...

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

How do you do it? Do you sail on one tack with about a 20knot wind
and
check the leeward shrouds and tighten the turnbuckles until there's no
slack.
And, then come about and sail on the other tack and do the other side?
That's
the best way to do it if you don't have some special too. That's what I
was
told at least. Oh the forestay you have to tighten so it stays pretty
straight
when sailing with your jib. That automatically tightens up the back stay.
But when you have only three stays like my Tangerine it gets more
complicated.
Three's harder to get right than four.

Cheers,
Ellen

No, it is not harder. Tighten all three up to a decent tension so that the
mast is upright and there is no slackness that can lead to fatigue failure
when not in use. Then, when you hoist your jib, tension up the jib really
hard so that the forestay does go a bit slack and the luff wire of the jib
has all the tension. The remaining two shrouds will then be correctly
tensioned.

"Edgar" wrote
No, it is not harder. Tighten all three up to a decent tension so that the
mast is upright and there is no slackness that can lead to fatigue failure
when not in use. Then, when you hoist your jib, tension up the jib really
hard so that the forestay does go a bit slack and the luff wire of the jib
has all the tension. The remaining two shrouds will then be correctly
tensioned.

It's harder for me because the wire in my jib rusted and the eye splice
and thimble broke right off. I'm having to unstitch all along the luff to get
the rest of the rusty broken wire cable out of there. So I can't hoist up the
jib really hard or it might rip. So I have to do it with the shrouds and stay
all by themselves...

Cheers,
Ellen

Edgar wrote:
"Ellen MacArthur" wrote
"Walt" wrote

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

How do you do it?

No, it is not harder. Tighten all three up to a decent tension so that the
mast is upright and there is no slackness that can lead to fatigue failure
when not in use. Then, when you hoist your jib, tension up the jib really
hard so that the forestay does go a bit slack and the luff wire of the jib
has all the tension. The remaining two shrouds will then be correctly
tensioned.

Well, this depends on the boat. I'd say consult the tuning guide for
your boat and sails. (yes, the progeny of the sails makes a difference.)

For my boat, I keep the forestay very loose with several inches of sag.
Then I raise the jib on shore and tension the rig to 150 lbs as measured
by a Loos gauge - at this point the forestay is completely slack. This
gives me a nominal setting which I mark, and I'll go up or down from
there as needed. The jib halyard is tweaked constantly while sailing
(every 30 to 60 seconds) as conditions dictate - more tension for
pointing, less for speed, and quite slack when sailing off the wind.

Other boats are different. Don't try this with a keelboat.

//Walt

"Walt" wrote in message
...
For my boat, I keep the forestay very loose with several inches of sag.
Then I raise the jib on shore and tension the rig to 150 lbs as measured
by a Loos gauge - at this point the forestay is completely slack. This
gives me a nominal setting which I mark, and I'll go up or down from
there as needed. The jib halyard is tweaked constantly while sailing
(every 30 to 60 seconds) as conditions dictate - more tension for
pointing, less for speed, and quite slack when sailing off the wind.

Hey, Walt! .You are a dinghy sailer and you have the time to tweak your jib
_halyard_ every 30-60 seconds???
When do you get time to tweak your main and jibsheet, not to mention the
rudder and also looking for the next windshift and/or gusts while also
keeping your eye on your opponents?. Plus sitting her out to keep level
etc.?
My racing has been in lively heavily canvassed 12-14' dinghies and once the
jib is up and the halyard tensioned that is how it remained while other
things occupied my whole time.

Edgar wrote:

Hey, Walt! .You are a dinghy sailer and you have the time to tweak your jib
_halyard_ every 30-60 seconds???

Yep. It's led back into the cockpit on both sides with a 12-1 purchase
so I don't have to move to reach it. Likewise the vang which is also
tweaked fairly often. Between the two, it's how you "switch gears" to
keep the rig powered up optimally.

When do you get time to tweak your main and jibsheet, not to mention the
rudder and also looking for the next windshift and/or gusts while also
keeping your eye on your opponents?. Plus sitting her out to keep level
etc.?

It's a balancing act. What's most important? Well, all the things you
mention are more important than tuning the rig, and anyone who's
fiddling with strings while ignoring these items is not going to do
well. But it doesn't take much time or effort to reach down and tweak
the rig - well, once you have the centrols installed to make it easy to
do from the cockpit, that is.


My racing has been in lively heavily canvassed 12-14' dinghies and once the
jib is up and the halyard tensioned that is how it remained while other
things occupied my whole time.

I used to sail that way. But once I started tuning on the fly I started
doing much better.

The halyard tension greatly affects sail shape. Take a look at this
picture (not me)
http://www.albacore.org/USA/images/3_MegaWoofPlanes.jpg and observe
the curve in the jib luff - this 'sag' affects the overall shape of the
sail, and the amount of sag is a function of rig tension and wind speed.
Since I mostly sail on inland lakes where the wind is *always* changing
I have to adjust the halyard a lot to keep the jib shape where I want
it. A different boat, more steady wind, and maybe it's not so important...

//Walt

"Ellen MacArthur" wrote in message
reenews.net...

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

How do you do it? Do you sail on one tack with about a 20knot wind and
check the leeward shrouds and tighten the turnbuckles until there's no
slack.

Well, it's like this "Ellen." You pull on the little white strings that run
through the pulleys until something goes "boing."

What a phony crock of dog feces you are, Neal. And a closet queen.

Max