Please Help!! - Shrouds seem short.

[Reid - the West Wing]

Hi guys!Tried launching my 240 today, in the rain and cold.Could not step the mast because the lower and upper shrouds tightened and stopped the mast from raising the whole way! We tried disconnecting the lower shrouds and got the mast a bit higher but then the upper shrouds tightened. The turnbuckles are extended to their maximum and we attached the shrouds as per the diagrams- lower shroud to the front u-bolt. I hope I am doing something wrong as opposed to having the wrong rigging. Any thoughts on the problem here.Cold in Canada today (should have known a launch a month earlier than normal would cause problems.

 

[Joe R]

Mast raising

Often the eye bolts of the side stays get jammed in the U bolts that they attach to creating a shorter side stay. The eye bolt usually bends at that point.Also the thin red & white antenna wire lead can get hung up on anything on deck and hold back the mast. (It should snap releasing the mast but making it harder to feed an antenna wire through the mast later..If that isnt it just keep your eyes open and you will spot the problem.DONT FORCE ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!Joe R.H240/Skooky 2

 

[John Powell]

U Bolt

I bought a 23.5 this weekend and the seller warned me three times while we were unstepping the mast that if the shrouds were not perfectly centered in the u-bolts the mast would not go all the way up. Thought this might help you.John Powell

 

[Reid - the West Wing]

Problem at Dealer or Hunter

We hoisted the mast the whole way up to see if the shrouds were pulling through a high tension angle, but it turns out both the uper and lower shrouds were about 6 to 8 inches short!! I suppose they were originally intended for a 23.5 or smaller. Thanks alot for the help, I tested our raising methods to your advise and I was much more confident that it was not a problem of the crew.Hopefully new shrouds are a quick delivery -I'm sure itching to get out there.