I just stepped the mast on my new to me Venture 21 and noticed there wasn't a back stay. Is this normal or am I just missing one? Also, there isn't a way to tighten the stays (no turnbuckles, etc). Does anyone know how I could tighten them? Assume I'm very ignorant about this stuff please (assume it because I am).
Back Stay on a Venture 21? And how to tighten stays?
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Back stay V-21
Hi,
I have a 1977 V21 and it has a factory back stay. My fore stay has a turn buckle. The back and side stays have ajustable plates (not sure what they are called) with holes and a pin for ajustment and they connect to the deck fittings. If you go to my profile page and look at my pictures you can check out my rigging.
Good luck
Gabriel
Hi,
I have a 1977 V21 and it has a factory back stay. My fore stay has a turn buckle. The back and side stays have ajustable plates (not sure what they are called) with holes and a pin for ajustment and they connect to the deck fittings. If you go to my profile page and look at my pictures you can check out my rigging.
Good luck
Gabriel
It depends on what rigging you have. If the boat has just two side stays there would not necessarily be a back stay. The original rigging configuration on the early 21's was two side stays (right and left side) and a forestay that connected about 18" back from the bow.
Is there a connection on the stern for the backstay? It would be somewhere near the center to the right or left so it does not interfere with the tiller.
Is there a connection on the stern for the backstay? It would be somewhere near the center to the right or left so it does not interfere with the tiller.
Knuttle is right, though I've never seen the model with only 2 sidestays (one per side) as mine has the inner and outer on each side. The back stay should have a U-bolt on the transom for the backstay. The adjustments on the sidestay I've never touched though I've loosened the turnbuckle on the forestay/furling foil to gain a small amount of rake for better pointing ability. My back stay is relatively loose and seems to only do something in puffs where I see it slack a bit then tighten under load.
Nice lookin' boat Gabriel. I wish I had thought to tie off the end at the boom block instead of running it through to the other side-could have saved a good bit of line on the main sheets compared to the factory setup..
Nice lookin' boat Gabriel. I wish I had thought to tie off the end at the boom block instead of running it through to the other side-could have saved a good bit of line on the main sheets compared to the factory setup..
Three stays on a 21
I bought my V-21 when we were first married. I was looking for a different job and we did not want to buy a house as I was looking outside of the area, so we bought a boat and had a baby instead.
Since we were monetarily impaired, we bought the basic boat and picked it up at the factory in 1970, It came with two side stays and a bow stay. Several years later we upgraded to six stays with spreaders.
Have always been glad we bought the boat before we had kids and a house, it would have been decades before we could have gotten the boat it we had bought the house first.
I bought my V-21 when we were first married. I was looking for a different job and we did not want to buy a house as I was looking outside of the area, so we bought a boat and had a baby instead.
Since we were monetarily impaired, we bought the basic boat and picked it up at the factory in 1970, It came with two side stays and a bow stay. Several years later we upgraded to six stays with spreaders.
Have always been glad we bought the boat before we had kids and a house, it would have been decades before we could have gotten the boat it we had bought the house first.
It pobably wouldn't be too much of an ordeal to install a backstay. Just remember that stainless steel U-bolts and other parts are wayyyyyy cheaper at Home Depot than West Marine!
-Joel
-Joel
If you do decide to add a backstay, nameanah, make sure you offset the u-bolt enough the starboard side(take a look at another v21 and measure from centerline if possible), put a strong backing plate on and if possible swage a turnbuckle on. Obviously you're going in from the lazarette as you would need to do for that set of boarding ladder bolts(one on the outside and one half in/half out of the lazarrette. There was a backstay on a much earlier thread that was a quicklock and adjustable to make stepping easier perhaps some of the other readers remember it..
See the Sailing Texas website. In the classified section one will find several pics of Venture 21s. You will see a couple of different standing rigging designs in the pictures alone.
Mauri Pro Sailing website lists 4 different rig configurations possible over the production run of this model of sailboat.
You will need to educate yourself about the type of standing rigging you have. If the forward wire, called the forestay, is attached at the very top of the mast, you have a masthead rig. If the forestay attaches at about 7/8s or 3/4s of the way up the mast, you have a fractional rig.
If you only have a single side wire on each side, with a single forestay, you have about the most simple rig arrangement possible. If you have two short poles that are attached to you mast that hold the sidestays away from the mast, they are called spreaders. If the spreaders form a slight "vee" and point aft slightly, you have swept spreaders. A forestay and two sidestays with swept wires form about the simplest and least expensive standing rigging arrangement. It is also the weakest rig, but the entire line of Macgregor sailboats are manufactured with the least equipment that will do the job.
A backstay can strengthen your standing rigging, especially if you have a masthead rig. It can be used to tune the forestay tension. In a fractional rig arrangement, the backstay can be used to depower the mainsail. In all standing rigging arrangements, the backstay can counteract the stresses imposed by large headsails (genoas, spinnakers). If you want to install a backstay on a sailboat that has never had one, select carefully the location of your backstay chainplate installation. Many sailboats have backstay that are offset from the centerline of the hull for clearance issues.
The attachment point where the standing rigging wire terminates at deck level is called the chainplate. On Macgregor sailboats, this is often a piece of stainless steel with a hole in it. Chainplates are often attached under the deck or to the side of the hull. The adjusters for rig tension are found attached to the chainplate. Macgregor often installs an adjuster that uses multiple holes to be indexed with a rigging pin. One rigging pin goes through the chainplate hole and the bottom of the adjuster. Another rigging pin goes through the selected hole in the adjuster and connects to the wire in question. The rigging pins are held in place with cotter pins or circular rings.
Please describe your standing rigging exactly. John S
Mauri Pro Sailing website lists 4 different rig configurations possible over the production run of this model of sailboat.
You will need to educate yourself about the type of standing rigging you have. If the forward wire, called the forestay, is attached at the very top of the mast, you have a masthead rig. If the forestay attaches at about 7/8s or 3/4s of the way up the mast, you have a fractional rig.
If you only have a single side wire on each side, with a single forestay, you have about the most simple rig arrangement possible. If you have two short poles that are attached to you mast that hold the sidestays away from the mast, they are called spreaders. If the spreaders form a slight "vee" and point aft slightly, you have swept spreaders. A forestay and two sidestays with swept wires form about the simplest and least expensive standing rigging arrangement. It is also the weakest rig, but the entire line of Macgregor sailboats are manufactured with the least equipment that will do the job.
A backstay can strengthen your standing rigging, especially if you have a masthead rig. It can be used to tune the forestay tension. In a fractional rig arrangement, the backstay can be used to depower the mainsail. In all standing rigging arrangements, the backstay can counteract the stresses imposed by large headsails (genoas, spinnakers). If you want to install a backstay on a sailboat that has never had one, select carefully the location of your backstay chainplate installation. Many sailboats have backstay that are offset from the centerline of the hull for clearance issues.
The attachment point where the standing rigging wire terminates at deck level is called the chainplate. On Macgregor sailboats, this is often a piece of stainless steel with a hole in it. Chainplates are often attached under the deck or to the side of the hull. The adjusters for rig tension are found attached to the chainplate. Macgregor often installs an adjuster that uses multiple holes to be indexed with a rigging pin. One rigging pin goes through the chainplate hole and the bottom of the adjuster. Another rigging pin goes through the selected hole in the adjuster and connects to the wire in question. The rigging pins are held in place with cotter pins or circular rings.
Please describe your standing rigging exactly. John S
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