Rigging Tension
Hopefully this response will get through. I've had several failures today for some reason. My manual indicates that the leeward shrouds should not be slack when close hauled in 10-12 knots of wind. That is how I set my H34 up and it is working fine. First step was to insure that the mast was vertical. I adjusted my turnbuckles so the same amount of thread was showing inside the barrels on both sides of the boat. I then hauled the end of a 100' tape measure up with the main halyard. I measured to a common point on the toerail. I needed to adjust (probably because the shrouds were not exactly the same length from side to side) by alternately tightening and loosening one side and the other until the mast was vertical. Then I went sailing in no more than 10 knots. In my case, the rigging was slack. I tighened the loose shrouds no more than a couple of turns at a time. I tacked over and tightened the opposite turnbuckles exactly the same amount. That way the mast stayed vertical. I kept going back and forth until the rigging was just tight under those conditions. This technique also improved my forestay tension since the shrouds are behind the mast. The backstay was now loose, so I evenly tightened the split backstay only enough to take out the slack. I used cotter rings in the turnbuckles. I twirl them around one side of the turnbuckle barrel and through the hole in the threaded rod. They don't catch on anything and I don't tape them so I can keep them rinsed with fresh water and inspect them periodically. It seems to sail fine with much less weatherhelm when it gets really windy. Of course on this boat, you still have to reef early. Now, if you do this and the rigging gets loose again right away, then you have to check for mast step compression. Check out the Foto Forum for details on that. Regards, Allan "Alchemie" SF Bay (where the wind occasionally blows)
