Backstay adjuster Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 361

[forte]

Hi,

Anyone who changed the standard (fixed) backstay arrangement on a Beneteau 361 to an adjustable backstay?

If so did improved sailing qualities justify the investment?

I expect that this would improve upwind performance and give additional trimming possibilities especially in medium \ strong wind situations however I have so far only seen one B361 with an ( improvised) arrangement to adjust backstay tension. I wonder why this is not being used more often.

MJV

 

[MSN-Travelers]

Roller furling main or traditional?

 

[forte]

Traditional main.

MJV

 

[MSN-Travelers]

March 2002 forum entry - We have a Beneteau Oceanis 361 which also has twin backstays. We were also looking at a backstay tensioner sytem as there was excessive sag in the forestay when going to windward.

Our local rigger put us off the idea since he thought the swept back spreaders on the masthead rig would be a problem. His thinking behind this was that since the spreaders are swept, the cap shrouds contribute to pulling the masthead back as well as the backstays and so both the backstays and the cap shrouds contribute to forestay tension. Therefore if the tension of the backstays is altered using the tensioner it will also alter the tension of the cap shrouds and so could lead to lateral instability in the mast. A way of getting around this would be to leave the backstay tension constant. However, it has already been mentioned that leaving a high tension can lead to the boat bending and becoming damaged.

I do not know enough about rigging to verify whether this theory is correct but i have found that tensioning the cap shrouds does slacken the backstays and vice versa, so there is certainly some truth behind the theory.

However, on our boat we have greatly improved pointing ability by slackening the rig and starting tuning again from scratch. This has decreased forestay sag considerably. A good tuning guide can be found at the beneteau owners assocaition website (it is designed for an oceanis 411, but will be virtually the same for most standard rigged boats). The site is www.beneteauowners.com. Go to library, then 'rigging and tuning' and the guide was posted on 23rd jan 01. I hope this helps!
[I couldn’t find the referenced entry]

Not sure if your rig is by US Spare but the attached tuning guide is from them.

 

[forte]

March 2002 forum entry - We have a Beneteau Oceanis 361 which also has twin backstays. We were also looking at a backstay tensioner sytem as there was excessive sag in the forestay when going to windward.



Tks for sharing your experience.
I am not that dissatisfied with present pointing abilities, but always looking for possible improvements.
Any boat I have been sailing on so far has always had backstay tensioning possibilities so I reckon there must be a specific reason why it is not fitted on these typse of Beneteau's

Will discuss with some riggers here locally and see what their opinion is. As I am looking into a complete sail change for next season it would be interesting to see if additional trimming options could also be implemented.

MJV