Skip

You're going to be surprised how tight you want to get those stays
(although there will be even more tension when you're sailing).

To my mind, the cost of a good rigger is one of the best "deals" left
in sailing. In a couple of hours they can check and "cruising" tune
your rig - tuning a racing boat is more involved. You'll greatly
decrease the odds of catastrophic rig failure on your first gusty day
and probably have a substantially faster boat upwind.

To get a better understanding (and as guide if you still decide to do
it on your own)
Selden Mast has an excellent piece on rig tuning on their web site

http://www.seldenmast.com/

Go to "Manuals" then scroll way down to the General Information
section. Then download the document "Hints and Advice". They show you
how to use a standard carpenter's ruler and a set of calipers to
measure rig tension.

Carl





Skip Gundlach wrote:
So, we're floating, again, and letting the hull settle into its water
configuration, having been out for more that 2.5 years, before we start
tweaking.

The engine alignment is one such; I think I have that handled.
However, the rig is another matter entirely.

I want to tune the rig before we start sailing, and currently all the
shrouds and intermediates save one seem very loose by hand.
Regardless, they're probably not set correctly.

Once the hull's settled in, I expect that a Loos gauge is the way to go
to see the right setup. I have two questions:

First, is it worth the investment to buy one? I'm not a racer, nor
will I ever be. But I expect that a properly tuned rig will be kinder
to the boat, in any event. Is this something which I'd use frequently
or something better done by paying a rigger (the largest tool is what
our boat needs - it's 180 at list) on the occasions when I thought I
needed it?

Second, how does one determine the proper tension for a given boat and
the given stays/shrouds? Or, is that covered in the manual which comes
with the tool?

TIA

L8R

Skip and Lydia, prepping for sea trials

On 14 Oct 2006 07:54:44 -0700, "Carl" wrote:

To my mind, the cost of a good rigger is one of the best "deals" left
in sailing. In a couple of hours they can check and "cruising" tune
your rig - tuning a racing boat is more involved. You'll greatly
decrease the odds of catastrophic rig failure on your first gusty day
and probably have a substantially faster boat upwind.

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

Dismastings are a *very* expensive repair.

"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!