Furlex Furlers

[Steve]

I have a "non-adjustable" Furlex furler on my h23. I think the stay has stretched causing a fair amount of mast rake. The only way to correct the situation is to shorten the headstay. Has anyone had the same problem?Steve

 

[Dave Condon]

forestay

Over time, the forestay has stretched and you have used or turned the turnbuckle all the way down. There are two things to do. One is to simply replace the forestay in which it would be good to send it to a rig shop or simply cut the forestay and use for example a Norseman fitting. I would reccomend a new forestay. Seco South made the rigging for the 23. Call them and ask for Jean. Phone is 727-536-1924. Price is reasonable. Crazy Dave

 

[Jon Bastien]

A working theory...

I'm also having the problem of an 'overly-raked' (Seriously leaning?) mast, and I thought it may be because the forestay was too long. After putting a little more thought into it, though, I noticed the following: - I have the backstay turnbuckles as loose as I am comfortable with; - When stepping the mast, the shrouds become taut MUCH earlier than the backstay; - There is an AWFUL lot of tension on the forestay for not having much tension on the backstay; - The spreaders are swept back a bit, leading me to believe that they actually carry a bit of the strain fore and aft forces on the masthead, and - As I recall, backstay adjustments for this type of rig are to increase/decrease bend in a mast, not necessarily to apply tension to the forestay. I should also mention that the backstay tension doesn't start increasing noticably until I have the forestay turnbuckles about halfway to 3/4 tightened. My working theory is that my shrouds are too tight, and this is causing my mast to lean back a bit further than it should. I'm planning on testing this theory next time I step the mast (sometime later this week, I hope); I'll let you know how it turns out. Anything I should know before I attempt these adjustments? Jon "I've never tuned my rig before, but I'll try anything once" BastienH23 '2 Sheets to the Wind'

 

[Jon Bastien]

Oh, more info I just thought of

Specifically, I think my LOWER shrouds are too tight, which is why increasing the tension on the forestay also increases the tension on the backstay- after a while. If the uppers were too tight, the backstay would loosen because the mast would start bending backwards as tension were applied to the forestay.--Jon BastienH23 '2 Sheets to the Wind'

 

[Greg Stebbins]

23 Rigging

The following is from a post from Jim kolstoe. It was submitted durring a general discussion in Hunter 23 rig tuning and worth a look. I think you may be having trouble due to not starting from an at-rest postion rigging wise. Back off all your turnbuckles a bit befor you stand-up your mast. Also make sure you have stright rigging all the way down to the chain plates. (You wouldn't believe the twisted rigging I seen!) Anyway, Here's Jim's imput and all good. "..set headstay turnbuckle at 1/2 open, then tighten backstay to medium tension. Starting with slight tension on uppers and lowers, check to see that the mast is centered athwartships by hoisting a steel tape to the masthead and measuring to the chainplates. Then tension uppers equally counting turnbuckle revolutions, until you have approx. 1 inch of pre-bend fore and aft. Now tighten the lowers evenly, counting turn buckle revolutions, sighting the luff groove to ensure the mast remains straight athwartships. Then tighten the backstay to a taut postition, about 8-10 turns. Personally, I crank the forestay in 3/4's of the way, and rely on the backstay adjustor for further fore and aft adjustment of the mast as well as controlling draft in the sails. The France mast is just as bendy as the Z-spar. The manual suggests test sailing in 10-12 knots, sighting the luff groove for straightness, and that the leeward shrouds should not be loose. More or less following these directions has worked pretty well for me." A good portion of our previous discussion centered around which mast you have. The above only really applies to the Francespar & Z-Spar masts. Kenyen masts require a different technique explained by Cliff Ruckstuhl in his posts.Good Luck and don't be afraid to experiment.Greg, 23'- Faster