Another H260 question-rig tension

soling42 · Mar 31, 2011

There's no good way to guess on the upper/inner shrouds. The leeward stays should never be loose when fully powered up in a good blow. Buy/beg/borrow a Loos gauge or borrow one from your local club. Any active fleet of small boats would have a few.

Yeah, Georges site is a real treasure trove of 260/26 data and an awesome compilation that's helped nearly everyone who has one. I know he was about to move up to a trawler so I hope his effort isn't lost.

I had a 2nd older gauge but just recently donated it to a club down here. Good luck, Mike

jimfrankelly · Apr 3, 2011

Shrouds too Short

My 2002 Hunter 270 has shrouds that appear to be too short, despite the mast appearing to be raked appropriately. I discovered this after launching the boat for the first time last season. I sailed it with too much pressure (according to the Loos Guage) last season. I cannot extend the turnbuckles any further. I am considering putting toggles on to lengthen the shrouds. I am wondering if anyone else had had this problem.

Sublime said:
Any of y'all who have one, about how much can you deflect the shrouds?
I'm going to make sure the mast is in the column but I'm suspicious that my uppers are too loose. The uppers will wiggle a little in a good breeze (25+ knots) with bare poles. I'll also feel a vibration down in the boat with a good breeze which I would guess is from the mast.

I've been reading over this tuning guide:
http://h260.com/rigging/rigging.html
(to the one who put this site together-thank you so much!)

Down at the bottom there's a picture labeling the shrouds which I'll refer to. I'm really rusty on cruiser boats, so bare with me.
RD1 and D1 are really tight. Not much wiggle at all. D1 feels normal to me. V1 feels pretty slack on both sides. I'd guess it's as slack as it should be if it were on the leeward side, but this is bare poles.

I know a loos gauge is ideal, but that's not in the cards right now. Any tips are appreciated!

soling42 · Apr 28, 2011

Often when raising/lowering the mast the stays are loosened to get the forestay pin in. If your previous owner didn't re-tension the rig it would be slack like you've found yours. Just keep going around each side stay giving each turnbuckle a couple turns until your gauge reads about 350lbs(#14-16 on the gauge scale?) on your 5/32 stays.

When the rig is properly tuned and you take it back down it'll be tough to get the forestay pin out without pulling extremely hard on the jib halyard/gin pole with your block and sheets unless you loosen the turnbuckles each time.

When stepping the rig you can do one of 4 things,(1) loosen the turnbuckles every time the mast is stepped, (2) pull it pretty taught until you can safely drive the pin out with a punch,(3) pull it REALLY taught(far beyond spec tension) until the forestay is slack enough to pull out/insert the pin, or (4)do what I've done and add a quick release closure that releases the forestay tension about 3". This slackens the rig enough that I never tension the rig beyond the spec tension and it also allows pin placement very easily when I'm setting the rig too. Lastly it maintains consistent rig tuning without the fuss of getting my gauges out each time.

It'll require a little effort as you'll need to get the quick release closure($30?, cat# 14-210?)http://www.csjohnson.com/ and you'll need to take your forestay to a rigger and have them shorten it the 4-6" length of the closure. After that it's all easy as pie when you raise or lower your rig. If you don't step it often just allow for a little time to tension the rig right and you'll be fine.

Equally important to correct tension, I'd do a really close inspection of all the standing rigging fittings too. Hairline cracks, bent parts and rust are your rigs enemies. Don't forget to ck that bow bolt noted in the pic below. Mine was stripped at the factory, waiting to wreck my pulpit and whole rig. Easily drilled up from underneath with a long bit I ran a SS bolt up through the deck/hull with a SS nylock nut as it should be.

Happy tuning. Glad you caught the rig issue before something broke.

Mike

MABell · Apr 29, 2011

Soling42
I see you have a tractor to hoist your mast. That must be handy

I really like the idea of the release mechanism and not having to re-tension. I'm kind of a stickler about tension. Do you feel confident with it holding - being another point of failure? And it would raise the jib as well I assume. Trying to think in my head if there is room on the front stay for the sail being the wire is now shorter.
Thanks in advance.

soling42 · Apr 30, 2011

Mabell,
I use it with a furler and yes there was enough room at the top to allow for the length of the release lever with room to spare but you'd need to ck your own situation. I suppose if you weren't comfortable with the strength of a single closure at the base of the forestay you could install one at each of the side stay turnbuckles which would divide the load and create some redundancy too.

I've run mine through the ringer and it's not showing any signs of fatigue. I always take some pressure off it before opening it otherwise 350lbs of tension could leave a lasting memory.....

And yes my big tractor is a huge help stepping the mast but my wife complains about where to stow it on-board

Everybody knows that the smell of diesel fuel is just country boy perfume.
Mike

MABell · May 1, 2011

Thanks. Thinking next fall I'll send the front stay and adjuster in to the rigging shop and have them build a new stay to the correct size. You can never have to many spares.

Another H260 question-rig tension

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