Last year I bought a 87 Hunter 23. I spent all of last season getting it in ship shape. Last week I stepped the mast for the 1st time for practice before I put it to water. I had a difficult time connecting the forestay and had to loosen all the stays until they reached there very end. I did notice the mast was raked way back. My questions are: is this normal for H23? won't this boat want to go to weather in strong winds this way. What can I do to set it forward more? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks Ray K.
Mast RakeH23
- Thread starter Ray k18696
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23 mast rake
Check the smaller boat forum archives and you will be reading on this subject all week . good luck with a great boat , Mike
Check the smaller boat forum archives and you will be reading on this subject all week . good luck with a great boat , Mike
Re: Mast rake
The length of the headstay is the only adjustment for mast rake. The longer the headstay the greater the mast rake. The greater the mast rake the higher the boat will point, but this has a downside in that it will also increase weather helm. There is no fixed number for rake because it varies from one sailing area to another. Typically, in lighter conditions the boat can handle more rake. Fortunately, your headstay length is easily adjustable from one day to the next so you can change the setting depending on how strong the wind is blowing. A small adjustment can be a huge change in sailing quality.
The length of the headstay is the only adjustment for mast rake. The longer the headstay the greater the mast rake. The greater the mast rake the higher the boat will point, but this has a downside in that it will also increase weather helm. There is no fixed number for rake because it varies from one sailing area to another. Typically, in lighter conditions the boat can handle more rake. Fortunately, your headstay length is easily adjustable from one day to the next so you can change the setting depending on how strong the wind is blowing. A small adjustment can be a huge change in sailing quality.
Use the jib halyard
We went through the same thing you describe. When we first raised the mast, we used a line attached to the forestay, through a block at the bow, back to a winch - just the manual says to. Problem was we didn't have enough forward tension to reattach the forestay easily and tensioning it was difficult. Others suggested using the jib halyard the same way we used the forestay, and all problems disappeared - we could develop enough pull through the block to easily attach the stay and tighten it up.
We went through the same thing you describe. When we first raised the mast, we used a line attached to the forestay, through a block at the bow, back to a winch - just the manual says to. Problem was we didn't have enough forward tension to reattach the forestay easily and tensioning it was difficult. Others suggested using the jib halyard the same way we used the forestay, and all problems disappeared - we could develop enough pull through the block to easily attach the stay and tighten it up.
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