Oceanis 54 rig

[Tobias]

Hi there!
We are new to sailing and have a few questions regarding the rigging on our new Oceanis 54 "Voila". The rig has been set up and tensioned to the correct selden specs. However we have noticed that under hard sailing, the downwind side stay loses tension and becomes rather floppy, only to return to correct tension when stationary. I was wondering if this could be due to mast bend or movement in the boat structure? I'm rather worried as I don't believe this to be normal. Any help would be appreciated!

Tobias.

 

[Apex]

As one side comes under more tension, the other will loosen, IMHO that is normal. The AMOUNT that it loosens is subjective, my leeward shrouds sway quite a bit. Sight up the mast to make sure the mast is still in column. any bend can be adjusted with the ratio of upper and lower shroud tensions

 

[Sailsteve]

First of all, congrats on buying a magnificent boat!
Shroud tension is always a big question. The ultimate goal is that your mast stays in column at a 90degree angle to the beam of the boat on any point of sail. There is an awful lot of force on those windward shrouds when you are sailing and as materials stretch and flex you will always experience a slight loosening of tension on the leeward side of the mast, especially when on a beat or a close reach. This is nothing to really worry about.
What you should be looking at is any athwart ship's bend in the middle of the mast. Your mast tuning should keep the rig as straight as possible all the way from the base up. Under load you should eyeball the mast and see if there is any curvature or hook in the column of the mast to either port or starboard. If there is a sideways bend then you would need to adjust the lowers or middle shrouds to straighten the rig. In any case, chances are that any bend you might currently see probably has little effect on the integrity of the rig, but off-tuning of the mast will effect efficiency.
On racing boats skipper will bend the mast fore and after to alter mainsail shape. A bent back rig will pull the luff of the main forward and de-power the sail by flattening it out. Racing skippers spend a lot of time with mast bend adjustments, but cruising skippers can be more relaxed,
If you are racing the boat of course you will want to optimize all aspects of your sail and rig tune to get maximum performance out of the boat on any point of sail. This could be a full time obsession if you let it get to you. If you are cruising I would say, don't sweat the small stuff beyond keeping the rig straight up and down.

Steve

 

[Jackdaw]

Nice boat!

How much breeze, and is that breeze typical for you?

It OK if they sag a bit on the leeward side. I know its factional, but not sure if you boat has an adjustable backstay, but putting some more on will make that sag happen less, and also make the boat easier to sail when breezy.