Mast bend for an O'Day 222

[chuckd]

I have just recently replaced all of my standing rigging. Now, the hard part - tuning the rig. Does anyone know if the O'Day 222 (5/8 fractional) is supposed to have and mast pre-bend? It seems to me if I tension my backstay to where it seems tight enough, I get a lot of mast bend from the spreaders up. I this right? Or should I leave the backstay a bit looser to keep the mast straight? Will the swept back side stays pull that bend out (they seem to be pretty tight as it is)? Any help tuning a fractional rig will be appreciated. But specifics for the 222 mast pre-bend will really help.thanks, Chuck D

 

[Larry7082]

My 222 Rigging

On my 1984 222 we did not attempt to bend mast with rigging tension. I don't think this is a good idea, and I don't think the chainplates are strong enough for that type of tension.The backstay and forestay and shrouds should be very snug but not overly tight. I kept a 3 inch wiggle in the shrouds at about 8 feet(reaching upward).We kept the mast relatively straight. Also check the forums for other rigging guestions and answers...

 

[Jon6436]

Mast Rake on O'Day 222

I agree with Larry - no mast bend on the 222, but I recall that a sailmaker stated that, nominally, the rig is designed with 1 (one) degree, aft, of mast rake.

 

[Dave K.]

The manual cautions.......

...against using much static tension in the rig. "Hand-tight" is the term that shows up repeatedly.The standard rig arrangement has the mainsheet tackle attached to that triangle plate in the backstay. As tension on the mainsheet increases, the triangle plate rotates, adding tension to the backstay. With a fractional rig, increased backstay tension will apply more tension to the forestay (which opposes the tension) and bend the mast (since there is a "lever arm" between the backstay and forestay). I know many have changed their mainsheet arrangements and have lost this "automated" feature. However, even the leech tension on the main will apply some force contributing to mast bend in this situation so I would still be inclined to not have a lot of pre-tension on the backstay but a bit more than the manual prescribes might make a better sailing boat. You don't want to have an unstable mast that oscillates, for certain.

 

[chuckd]

I moved my mainsheet

My mainsheet is no longer attached to the backstay, and until I rig up a backstay adjuster, I' guess I'll have to set it a little tighter than it is when the mast is perfectly straight. I know this will bend the mast slightly from the spreaders up. What I didn't know was if there was supposed to be any pre-bend in the lower part of the mast. A lot of fractional rigs have some (even if very slight) pre-bend in them. Not getting a manual with the boat, I have no idea about the 222. I think I'l set it up 1 or 2 degrees raked aft with no pre-bend and just a bit bend from the backstay. I guess I may loose some downwind performance, but it should still beat well. Anyone see anything wrong with this?- thanksChuck D

 

[Joe11688]

Stay tension for the O'Day 222

I don't think anyone really knows what the stay tension is suppose to be on the 222. There's nothing written about it, and Rudy Nickerson didn't seem to know when I asked him. Years ago I bought a Loos Gauge and just picked out a tension number that corresponds to the size of my stays. The only problem I have, is that my mast has 1/8 inch upper stays, and my lowers are 5/32 inch since I changed them over. Right now, I'm re-tuning my mast because I just installed a new CDI furler and had to add a tang to my mast for the fore stay toggle. I noticed a slight bend in my mast, aft. So, I think that I'll have to just put a little slack in my back stay to get the mast straight again. I've always picked a tension for my upper stays, and made my lower side stays about 5 Lbs less, and this has worked out great for my boat. It's almost impossible to get the fore stay tight on a fractional rig without bending the top of the mast back, and I don't think you want that. My main sheet is on a traveler and my chain plates are O'Day 25 chain plate bars. I could go tighter if I wanted to, but I don't really think it's necessary. If you can get a gauge, just pick a number that will correspond to the thickness of the shroud that is not too tight, and get your lower side stays a little less, and you should be in the ball park. Larry is right about the side chain plates. They won't take too much tension. The first thing that lets go on those are the "L" brackets on the bulkhead in the cabin. One of mine broke and that's why I went to the the chain plates that I have. I'm not implying that the ones on your boat will break, but too much tension may cause them to fail. I think that mine failed because of the 5/32 shrouds that I had put on my mast. I think that you're going to have to do some experimenting like I did, Chuck.Joe

 

[chuckd]

Chain plates

Joe, When I bought the boat, I didn't like the little "L" brackets that attached to the bulkhead, so I had some 1/4" stainless steel plates made up. These are about 7" long and 2" wide. They distribute the load from the cap stays and the lower stays along a much larger area of the bulkhead. All of my rigging is the same size, I'm not sure what size, but the same size, as I ordered it from Rudy. I have a CDI RF on the boat as well, and getting the head stay tight is one of my main concerns. I took the boat out yesterday in some decent wind and got her up to 6.1 upwind and 6.3 down. The tiller had a bit of weather helm when we got healed over pretty good, but not too much. Overall I was pretty happy with it. I may add a turn or two to the head stay. Basically I have a slight aft rake and a little pre-bend in the mast overall. I have my backstay as loose as I dare, it's not flopping around or anything, but any tighter and I start to see a lot of bend in the mast above the spreaders. I'll let you know some more after a couple of days of playing with it.- Chuck D