Hydraulic Forestay

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Andy Horning

Dear Mr. Toss - I race my 1990 Hunter Legend 40 very hard. It has a B & R rig. I had a hydraulic backstay adjuster on the boat. It seemed no matter what I did with the rig and the shroud tensions when I cranked up the backstay tension to go to weather competively the shrouds would loosen to the point where my past would pump heavily in big wind and seas. I recently installed a hydraulic unit on the forestay instead of the backstay and not in addition to as that comes with a 9 second a mile hit to have both. After much thought I believe this will give me the range of adjustment I need and not compromise the integrity of the rig. Please give me your thoughts.
 

Alan

.
Jun 2, 2004
4,174
Hunter 35.5 LI, NY
My thoughts

You did exactly the right thing. A few years back I had along conversation with Lars Bergstrom. His original design included a hydraulic forestay adjuster. This allows the entry of the headsail to be flatter when tightened without negatively affecting the rest of the standing rigging
 
B

Brion Toss

Exactly

Hi there, And wasn't Lars a fabulous conversationalist? He is sorely missed. He also suggested the possibility of installing a Cunningham on the forestays'l. You actually could have that as well as an aduster. Or both, plus a tweezy little manual adjuster on the backstay, just to shape the masthead a taste. Fair leads, Brion Toss
 

Alan

.
Jun 2, 2004
4,174
Hunter 35.5 LI, NY
Brion

Yes, the man was brilliant! Always thinking outside the box. Lars was working on an addition to the trailing edge of the keel that I can only describe as a small movable wing. It would rotate on a small axis attached at the bottom of the keel and would rotate through about 135 degrees and be self tacking. Are you familiar with what I am trying to describe?
 
B

Brion Toss

Yay Lars

Hi again, Oh, yes! And how about the bubble-generating device that worked off a Venturi in the hull, for reduced laminar flow? And oh how I loved the day when I laid out my reasoning for describing the B&R rig as a three-cornered evolution of gaff (no standing backstay, aft-swept spreaders, sail controls instead of mast shaping, etc.). He sputtered charmingly, then agreed. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Fair leads, Brion Toss
 
Status
Not open for further replies.