johnson quick release shroud levers on a H146/H15

[esterhazyinoz]

Hi,
Do any H146 owners ( or other new H15 owners) out there have johnson quick release shroud levers installed on their boats? If so can you tell me at what number position (1-7) do you have the pin set at?
My new 15 came with these as standard equipment and they were both set up at position 5. I was wondering if this was set up by Hunter, pre delivery, or was just the default setting from the manufacturer. The photos of these that I see online (Johnson catalogue photo?)show the quick release pin in position 5 so I think all these things are shipped set up like this????
At the current position it's not too difficult to bend on the forestay/roller furling Jib and the top of the mast seems to have rake in the correct rearwards direction.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[esterhazyinoz]

Surprised no one bought into this discussion. Did the H146 not come with these Johnson Quick Shroud Adjusters or has no one, besides 170 owners, changed over to these great improvements over standard shroud adjusters?
Anyway, I have reduced the shroud tension for my 2nd sail tomorrow by moving the pin up to position 4. Light winds predicted again and believe this might be suitable. I'll check the leeward shroud tension under sail to make sure it's not too loose.

To attach the furling forestay still required me to use a block set-up to bend on (BTW, thanks Bluerunner for your great advise & photos - (see thread http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=118258 ) - I found some fiddle blocks on ebay and attach these to the main halyard and trailer mast yoke - one of the fiddle blocks has a camcleat which holds the mast while I close the shroud levers and then make it so easy to attach the furling drum to the forestay).
So goes the investigation into appropriate shroud tension.

 

[heliBartek]

Here's a quick rule of thumb I use to set the tensions on my shrouds, using Johnson's quick levers, and mind you this is on the h170. Well actually its more like several rules...LOL

As a side-note it should be remembered that those aluminium masts are pretty skinny so it doesn't take a lot of tenssion to start distorting them.

Right, so all I look for is just a small amount of aft rake in the mast - once that's done lay down in the boat with your head right next to the foot of the mast and look straight up along its lenght. If tension is uneven or too high you'll notice mast starts getting " S " shape to it - no good. Keep it as straight as possible.

Lastly when closing the levers, especially the last one on the upper set of shrouds, there should be some difficulty in closing it. What I mean is that you may have to put bit of a muscle to it in order to get it to close and insert a pin. Some times you may have to play around with the tension on the lower shrouds in order to keep the mast straight but genereally try not to make them too tight.

What I normally do is connect all the levers but leave them open, that leaves me with plenty of slack to pitch the mast slightly forward in order to connect the jib/forestay to the furling drum. After that I first close the lower shroud levers followed by the upper shrouds.

In the end there's a definitive point where it will all just come together nicely, its not that difficult to do. First time I did this it took me few hours with the boat set up on my lawn - the setup has been the same since and it works great.

Hope this helps. BTW there are some really good write ups on this forum regarding general mast rigging procedures. One only hopes that people at Hunter will finally take a hint and put together a decent manual for this boat.

Cheers

 

[esterhazyinoz]

Just got back from my second sail in the H15. Once again very light winds 4-8 knots at best. The boat moved well. I noticed a very slight bit of weather helm when I had the 8 knots . The leeward shrouds were still firm but of course not as tight as the windward.
The H15 only has one shroud, not uppers and lowers like the 170/18 so things are simpler.
Thanks for the hint re putting you head at the base of the mast to see the rake.

Cheers,