Looking forward to spring, I had a lot of trouble last year attaching the backstays on my B323. It already has double turnbuckles and we added an extra shackle on each of the split backstays to get enough "reach" to attach them. They are a son of a gun to get hooked up (Mast comes down annually for winter storage). Once attached there is enough tension to create significant mast bend, yet I still get forestay "sag" when sailing, there is no provision for forestay adjustment. It doesn't seem to make a lot of difference when adjusting the intermediate shroud tension either. Any suggestions aside from replacing the backstays completely would be appreciated.
- Status
Get a good rigger
Get a good rigger and watch what he does to get it right this spring. You'll be in the water quick and sailing well. Cant' sail with saggy headstay!
Get a good rigger and watch what he does to get it right this spring. You'll be in the water quick and sailing well. Cant' sail with saggy headstay!
Do you
by chance have one or two shackles on the backstays. The dealer who set ours up has been putting a second shackle on the backstays of all the 323's. Picture below. US Spars has an downloadable tuning guide on their website, link below. I had talked to a tech at US Spars and he said to use the upper shrouds, not the backstays, to tighten the forestay. This makes sense since the 323 is a fractional rig and tightening the backstays will bend the mast and actually loosen the forestay. When asked how tight, he replied, tight enough but not too tight. Better get a guage
Sail on... Terry
by chance have one or two shackles on the backstays. The dealer who set ours up has been putting a second shackle on the backstays of all the 323's. Picture below. US Spars has an downloadable tuning guide on their website, link below. I had talked to a tech at US Spars and he said to use the upper shrouds, not the backstays, to tighten the forestay. This makes sense since the 323 is a fractional rig and tightening the backstays will bend the mast and actually loosen the forestay. When asked how tight, he replied, tight enough but not too tight. Better get a guage
Sail on... Terry323 shackle setup
Terry: My setup is identical to your photo illustration. What I don't understand is that you call the 323 rig fractional. May forestay goes all the way to the masthead, whereas I have always thought of a fractional has having a forestay that secured a fraction of the way to the top of the mast. Yes it is a split backstay, and I have a conventional mainsail, not a furling mast. Thanks for the photo, link, and the input, also thanks to Ted
Terry: My setup is identical to your photo illustration. What I don't understand is that you call the 323 rig fractional. May forestay goes all the way to the masthead, whereas I have always thought of a fractional has having a forestay that secured a fraction of the way to the top of the mast. Yes it is a split backstay, and I have a conventional mainsail, not a furling mast. Thanks for the photo, link, and the input, also thanks to Ted
fractional rig
I thought the same until talking to US Spars. They called it a fractional and I questioned them on it too. The forestay on the mast is actually below the double backstay attatchment point. Not much but enough that they claim it makes a difference when tightening the backstays. Sail On... Terry
I thought the same until talking to US Spars. They called it a fractional and I questioned them on it too. The forestay on the mast is actually below the double backstay attatchment point. Not much but enough that they claim it makes a difference when tightening the backstays. Sail On... Terry
- Status