forestay tension

[Frank Nowak]

Anyone have comments as to how tight the forestay should be? My new 1982 Hunter 27 has a Hood Seafurl rig for the genoa. I had an experienced guy launch the boat and put up the mast. The forestay seems slack to me when you grab it (furled sail) and move it about. You can get the whole thing wobbling back and forth pretty easy. Also, when you look at it it appears to have a slight bow to it. Thanks.

 

[Ed Schenck]

One way.

And maybe the only way to know is with a Loos gauge. Since the gauge will not work on the furler you measure at the backstay. The shrouds need to be loosened first so there is no doubt you are measuring backstay/forestay tension.If you end up with too much mast bend you will have to alternate tightening the forestay, then the backstay. Problem is that many forestays are not adjustable without disconnecting the furler at the base. For this you can tension a couple of halyards to the bow area. Loosen the backstay first.You might want to check Brion Toss's site(Related Link).

 

[David Foster]

Here is our procedure

at the link below.We learned it from Carl Romig, a sailing instructor we hired for a day to "show us the ropes" when we first bought Lady Lillie.This included a safety lesson, tour of the boat, tuning the rig, then about 4 hours on the water showing us the man overboard, reefing, heaving to, mauevering in the marina, docking, and lots of other good stuff. It was a bargain, actually. It gave me a lot of confidence in handling the boat, and using my small boat experience on a larger, heavier keel boat.DavidLady Lillie