I recently bought a Hunter 240 (May '03)and don't have a lot of experience with my own boat. I was told that the mast was curved so that an aft stay was not necessary. I have noticed that the boat seems overpowerd in high winds (15-20+ knots) and have been forced to reef and even sail on jib only. But in light winds the boat seems very slow. The mast seems to be curved and or bent more than seems logical. Is it bent or warped and have I been duped? Or is this part of the design? Any help is greatly appreciated. Am having a great time anyway!
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C
crazy dave
bent mast
Your mast be raked back to much in a curvature and by eliminating alot of that, you should see an increase of performance and esier handling. I remember one dealer who did that(no longer in buisness), I would advise that owner to get it fixed and every time I was correct. The question is how much bend do you have and can you post a picture and then we can go from there. Do you have roller furling and if not, I would recommend that as you could reduce sail first with that.
Your mast be raked back to much in a curvature and by eliminating alot of that, you should see an increase of performance and esier handling. I remember one dealer who did that(no longer in buisness), I would advise that owner to get it fixed and every time I was correct. The question is how much bend do you have and can you post a picture and then we can go from there. Do you have roller furling and if not, I would recommend that as you could reduce sail first with that.
C
Chris Jensen
Thanks Crazy Dave
The mast is very curved/bent. I will try to post a picture in a week or so when I can get back to the boat. Do you have an e-mail address I can send it to? I suspected it was racked to far aft. Can it corrected by loosening the side stays and tightening the forestay? How do I know the correct adjustment? Sure appreciate your comments.
The mast is very curved/bent. I will try to post a picture in a week or so when I can get back to the boat. Do you have an e-mail address I can send it to? I suspected it was racked to far aft. Can it corrected by loosening the side stays and tightening the forestay? How do I know the correct adjustment? Sure appreciate your comments.
J
Jim
it probably suposed to be that way
sounds like you have a B&R rig which explains the lack of the aft stay. The mast is suposed to be curved. Look in your owners manual it tells you how to adjust the wire ropes on the mast to set the proper bend. If you can't find the manual: The easiest is to perform step one before the mast is stepped, lying with the aft side down, supported in both ends, with all rigging slack. If the mast is stepped, loosen all the rigging until it is slack, and go to step one. 1. Start with all rigging slack. Then induce the desired mastbend by tightening the diagonals. Measure the bend by tensioning a thin string, or the main halyard, along the back edge of the mast. The amount of bend desired, depends on the way the sails are cut. As a general rule, 1% of the height of the mast over the boom can be used as normal mastbend. This means that a boat with a mast 45' high over the boom should have approx. 0.45', or 5-6", away from the mast, when measured half way up. Upper and lower diagonals should be about equally tight, so that you have a nice and even bend in the mast. It is very important that you get the mast straight athwartships at this stage, so that all the bend is in the longitudinal plane. When this goal is achieved, all 4 diagonals should be about equally tight. 2. Step the mast, with all shrouds attached loosely (if the mast was not already stepped). 3. Adjust the backstay and forestay to the desired mast rake. Hang a weight from the main halyard and use this as a plum bob. Normal is to have the mast stepped vertical or raked back slightly. More mast rake will increase the weather helm on the boat. Tighten the forestay up to approx. 25% of the final tension you will want on it. This means that the turnbuckle on the forestay will be adjusted approx. another 0.1% of the forestay length to reach its final tension. 4. Up until now all shrouds shall have been slack, and the mast shall be straight athwartships. Start by adjusting the uppers, equal amount of turns on the turnbuckles on both sides, until they are tight. Now the mastbend has increased some, which will corrected later. 5. The next step is to check if the mast is standing straight up athwartships on the boat. Use the jib halyard for this. Pull it out so that it reaches below the sheerline by the mast. Thereafter pull it down past the sheerline on one side, and mark the halyard at the sheerline. bring the halyard over to the other side, and do the same thing. If you find a difference, adjust the turnbuckles equal amount of turns on both sides in opposite directions until the mast is standing straight on the boat. 6. Tighten the intermediate shrouds, equal amounts on both sides, until they are almost as tight as the uppers. Sight along the mast, and see if is straight athwartships. If it is not, adjust the intermediates, equal amount of turns on both sides in opposite directions, until it is. 7. Tighten the lower shrouds, until they are equally tight with the upper shrouds. Again sight along the mast, and see that it is straight athwartships. If it is not, again adjust, but this time the lowers, until it is. You mast will now have about the same amount of longitudinal bend, as you originally set up, and no bend athwartships. 8. Finally, set the desired load on the forestay as mentioned above. If the forestay is 40' long, it should be tightened approx. 1/2" more. 9. The final test on how well your rig is adjusted comes when you are sailing. Sail upwind in 10-15 knots of wind. First adjust the tightness of the shrouds. If the leeward shrouds are very loose, take about 1/2 the amount of slack out by tightening the turnbuckles, carefully marking down the number of turns for each one. tack over, and adjust the shrouds on the other side (again the leeward side), by the same number of turns. Keep on sailing upwind. Sight along the back of the mast. The mast should now look almost straight athwartships. If, for example, the mast looks straight up to the top spreaders and thereafter falls off to leeward, tighten the uppers on both sides, until it is straight. In this final tuning, always adjust both sides in the same way, or else it is very hard to get the mast straight on both tacks. Try to make all adjustments on the leeward side, and then tack over and make the adjustments on the new leeward side By doing this you decrease the loads on the threads in the turnbuckles. Once your B & R rig is adjusted, you will not have to redo it. If the mast is to be taken down for winter storage, only loosen the forestay until the pins in the shrouds can be taken out. Leave the spreaders on the mast, and do not adjust the backstay, shrouds, or the diagonals. A good way to store the mast, is on top of the boat, with the spreaders pointing down. It can then be used to support the winter cover, and will efficiently keep snow and water off the boat. Jim
sounds like you have a B&R rig which explains the lack of the aft stay. The mast is suposed to be curved. Look in your owners manual it tells you how to adjust the wire ropes on the mast to set the proper bend. If you can't find the manual: The easiest is to perform step one before the mast is stepped, lying with the aft side down, supported in both ends, with all rigging slack. If the mast is stepped, loosen all the rigging until it is slack, and go to step one. 1. Start with all rigging slack. Then induce the desired mastbend by tightening the diagonals. Measure the bend by tensioning a thin string, or the main halyard, along the back edge of the mast. The amount of bend desired, depends on the way the sails are cut. As a general rule, 1% of the height of the mast over the boom can be used as normal mastbend. This means that a boat with a mast 45' high over the boom should have approx. 0.45', or 5-6", away from the mast, when measured half way up. Upper and lower diagonals should be about equally tight, so that you have a nice and even bend in the mast. It is very important that you get the mast straight athwartships at this stage, so that all the bend is in the longitudinal plane. When this goal is achieved, all 4 diagonals should be about equally tight. 2. Step the mast, with all shrouds attached loosely (if the mast was not already stepped). 3. Adjust the backstay and forestay to the desired mast rake. Hang a weight from the main halyard and use this as a plum bob. Normal is to have the mast stepped vertical or raked back slightly. More mast rake will increase the weather helm on the boat. Tighten the forestay up to approx. 25% of the final tension you will want on it. This means that the turnbuckle on the forestay will be adjusted approx. another 0.1% of the forestay length to reach its final tension. 4. Up until now all shrouds shall have been slack, and the mast shall be straight athwartships. Start by adjusting the uppers, equal amount of turns on the turnbuckles on both sides, until they are tight. Now the mastbend has increased some, which will corrected later. 5. The next step is to check if the mast is standing straight up athwartships on the boat. Use the jib halyard for this. Pull it out so that it reaches below the sheerline by the mast. Thereafter pull it down past the sheerline on one side, and mark the halyard at the sheerline. bring the halyard over to the other side, and do the same thing. If you find a difference, adjust the turnbuckles equal amount of turns on both sides in opposite directions until the mast is standing straight on the boat. 6. Tighten the intermediate shrouds, equal amounts on both sides, until they are almost as tight as the uppers. Sight along the mast, and see if is straight athwartships. If it is not, adjust the intermediates, equal amount of turns on both sides in opposite directions, until it is. 7. Tighten the lower shrouds, until they are equally tight with the upper shrouds. Again sight along the mast, and see that it is straight athwartships. If it is not, again adjust, but this time the lowers, until it is. You mast will now have about the same amount of longitudinal bend, as you originally set up, and no bend athwartships. 8. Finally, set the desired load on the forestay as mentioned above. If the forestay is 40' long, it should be tightened approx. 1/2" more. 9. The final test on how well your rig is adjusted comes when you are sailing. Sail upwind in 10-15 knots of wind. First adjust the tightness of the shrouds. If the leeward shrouds are very loose, take about 1/2 the amount of slack out by tightening the turnbuckles, carefully marking down the number of turns for each one. tack over, and adjust the shrouds on the other side (again the leeward side), by the same number of turns. Keep on sailing upwind. Sight along the back of the mast. The mast should now look almost straight athwartships. If, for example, the mast looks straight up to the top spreaders and thereafter falls off to leeward, tighten the uppers on both sides, until it is straight. In this final tuning, always adjust both sides in the same way, or else it is very hard to get the mast straight on both tacks. Try to make all adjustments on the leeward side, and then tack over and make the adjustments on the new leeward side By doing this you decrease the loads on the threads in the turnbuckles. Once your B & R rig is adjusted, you will not have to redo it. If the mast is to be taken down for winter storage, only loosen the forestay until the pins in the shrouds can be taken out. Leave the spreaders on the mast, and do not adjust the backstay, shrouds, or the diagonals. A good way to store the mast, is on top of the boat, with the spreaders pointing down. It can then be used to support the winter cover, and will efficiently keep snow and water off the boat. Jim
J
Jeff
240 Mast - Looks Like Robin Hood's Bow
There is a 240 in the marina where I keep my boat. Mast is the strangest looking thing I have ever seen - it actually bows out forward so that about 1/2 wau up the mast the mast is actually well in front of the base plate and then curves way aft so that the top of the mast is actually well aft of the base plate - - looks like a tensioned archery bow...bizarre. But, I think it is "supposed" to be like that. good luck... By the way: all the water ballasted trailerable Hunters are overpowered in 15+ knots. You have to reef early.
There is a 240 in the marina where I keep my boat. Mast is the strangest looking thing I have ever seen - it actually bows out forward so that about 1/2 wau up the mast the mast is actually well in front of the base plate and then curves way aft so that the top of the mast is actually well aft of the base plate - - looks like a tensioned archery bow...bizarre. But, I think it is "supposed" to be like that. good luck... By the way: all the water ballasted trailerable Hunters are overpowered in 15+ knots. You have to reef early.
Bowed masts
Bend does two things, flatten the mainsail and open its leech. Both of these adjustments depower the sail, which is not good in light air or when sailing downwind. However, this feature comes in very handy when sailing upwind in heavy air. There is no single "correct" amount of bend. Like all other sail adjustments, bend should be set for the wind conditions that you typically sail in. How can tell when the bend is right? Tie some telltales to the leech of the sail at the battens. When you have the right amount of bend, they should all stream aft when sailing close-hauled. You should have only a little weather helm, the boat probably won't be heeled more than 15 degrees and you should be at or above theoretical hull speed. Peter H23 "Raven"
Bend does two things, flatten the mainsail and open its leech. Both of these adjustments depower the sail, which is not good in light air or when sailing downwind. However, this feature comes in very handy when sailing upwind in heavy air. There is no single "correct" amount of bend. Like all other sail adjustments, bend should be set for the wind conditions that you typically sail in. How can tell when the bend is right? Tie some telltales to the leech of the sail at the battens. When you have the right amount of bend, they should all stream aft when sailing close-hauled. You should have only a little weather helm, the boat probably won't be heeled more than 15 degrees and you should be at or above theoretical hull speed. Peter H23 "Raven"
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