Rig Tension

[drewlamparello]

Any one know what the rig should be set to? I just acquired Hull 34 and it is supposed to be delivered today to the Yard here in Charleston this morning. I'm going to have them restep the Mast today as well is possible... so any advice on Rig tension would be great... this makes my 5th Catalina and each stick has been set differently when optimized

 

[Codybear]

I have never come across any documentation or suggestion for optimal tuning for racing. I just ended up tightening the uppers to a fraction of the wire capacity. The uppers are 5mm and the lowers are 6mm. I went with less tension with the lowers, because being bigger than the uppers, if I went to the same fraction of the wire capacity, I may be taking out all of the pre-bend in the mast. Check out Selden Tuning for more information. I bought a metric tension gauge, which has the tables for metric wires. I target around 25 on the gauge for the uppers. Below are numbers I found somewhere, which do not exactly match the table on the gauge but are close (it's been a while, but I think this is more accurate as I have it taped on the backside of the gauge (numbers are metric)).

I think I take the lowers to a reading of 26 to 28 on the gauge. I do get some sag on the leeward lowers when sailing in reasonable wind so maybe I should notch it up a bit. It would completely eliminate any mast pre-bend when at dock, but it might not be quite as bad while sailing. As I'm not really racing the C275, I haven't gone hog wild on perfecting the tensioning so maybe someone will chime in with better numbers.

And lastly, Selden was kind enough to send me a pair of toggles to extend the uppers because they are about 1" shorter than the lowers and I had problems with the yard accidentally disconnecting the uppers when raising/lowering the mast.

 

[drewlamparello]

Just what the doctor ordered... Thanks much!

 

[drewlamparello]

Do all boat have this access port on the Port side of the mast? If so did you just leave it open or has some one found a plug

 

[Codybear]

No, there is a plastic cover that belongs there. Can't give you a picture as boat is in storage. Not sure if this was a Catalina install or a Selden install. I'd check with Catalina first and Selden second, or if you feel lucky, reverse it.

 

[drewlamparello]

No, there is a plastic cover that belongs there. Can't give you a picture as boat is in storage. Not sure if this was a Catalina install or a Selden install. I'd check with Catalina first and Selden second, or if you feel lucky, reverse it.

Figures... Getting something shipped is a marvelous thing... not, but all in all its here and so far so good... but I have yet to get it back in the water, it arrived on the 6th and has been in the yard to get the bottom and some engine maintenance work done since then, weather hasn't been typical for Charleston... like 25 below normal and rainy... so patience, we're hoping to splash on the 19th... Thanks

 

[Codybear]

Ok, did some research for you and came up with Selden part No. 540-026. Google Selden "540-026" and you will find places that sell it. Toad has a picture as well. Got the part number from page 111.

You can thank me by buying me a beer next time you are in Chicago. It's only $3 at our club.

 

[drewlamparello]

Finally splashed on the 21st... Great boat. Looking forward to it... Not much wind yesterday so had a good chance to get to know the engine. If you're ever down this way be sure to let me know so we can get out on Spray... Hoping to get her out on Saturday for a PHRF race... They gave me a 180 with the cute and 202 with out, seems fair as they give the J24s a 141. I'm thinking of taking it easy for the first day and not flying the chute.

 

[Codybear]

You're going to find the furling spin is pretty easy to work with. Maybe on the first time, keep the winds below 12. My last sail got a little interesting with the spin. I was sailing solo the 35 miles to the winter storage and the wind started coming down, so I set the spin. Next thing I know the wind starts piping up and a nice solid 20-22 knots rounded me up and it was too strong that I couldn't get the boat heading down (too much rudder cavitation) and was healed over long enough that water ended up in the galley sink. It ended up being quite a workout getting the spin rolled up because the resistance of the flapping spin was greater than I could keep on the continuous furler. I needed three hands, but only had two on the boat. The third hand is to take up slack on the loose furling line. I think I would like to lengthen that line a bit to have it reach into the cockpit more.

Anyway, glad your boat has made it into the water. Enjoy.

 

[drewlamparello]

This boat didn't come with a spin furler. I still have the Fancor that was on my Capri. I'll re-purpose it to this boat once I make up the Anti torque line. It would be great for cruising and single handing as to Racing I've found your better off deploying it from the companion way that way it doesn't affect your upwind performance... I hope to have many years of enjoyment with this new toy...

 

[SteveLKN]

Finally splashed on the 21st... Great boat. Looking forward to it... Not much wind yesterday so had a good chance to get to know the engine. If you're ever down this way be sure to let me know so we can get out on Spray... Hoping to get her out on Saturday for a PHRF race... They gave me a 180 with the cute and 202 with out, seems fair as they give the J24s a 141. I'm thinking of taking it easy for the first day and not flying the chute.

Did you get out for that race? If so how did the 275 stack up against other boats? (Especially the J-24 going to windward)
Steve

 

[Jackdaw]

Any one know what the rig should be set to? I just acquired Hull 34 and it is supposed to be delivered today to the Yard here in Charleston this morning. I'm going to have them restep the Mast today as well is possible... so any advice on Rig tension would be great... this makes my 5th Catalina and each stick has been set differently when optimized

For optimal performance, any non-overlapping rig boat should adjust its rig tension EVERY TIME out based on current wind speed. This allows you to get the proper amount of sag (and shape) in the headsail to allow it to work effectively. On our First 260 we set the rig into 1 of 4 settings base on wind speed. Not doing this cost us 30 seconds a mile.

 

[drewlamparello]

Did you get out for that race? If so how did the 275 stack up against other boats? (Especially the J-24 going to windward)
Steve

Did the Turkey Race... Only went in D fleet wasn't feeling good about the back stay after we had the Jib halyard part from the shackle due to frayed core weave right before we left the dock... given it was the same splice in the back stay opted to take it some what light... never the less we came in last in D fleet but we had fun... maybe we'll do better this Saturday in the Doublehander ... Frankly we double handed it in the turkey race and we could have used three guys on the rail to hold it down, for the last leg we put a reef in the main...

The Rig isn't set right I can tell that, but having a hard time figuring it out... just need to get it out and not be racing so that I can tweek it and then sail and tweek some more... for the Turkey race I think I had the lowers too tight and the uppers not tight enough as there was a good about of headstay sag unless I put the back stay on, given what I said above about the shape of the splices I didn't want to push it... just need to get to know the boat... it does point pretty well considering

 

[SteveLKN]

Tell us how you do in the double handed race

I'm considering purchasing a 275, the only reservation I have is the race performance. Can it sail to a fair rating? (ie how does it compare to an older C25 or C27?)

Steve

 

[drewlamparello]

CORA assigned Spray a 180 w Spin and 202 with out. I beleive that is a fair rating for the boat, as to my ability to sail it to the handicap that's a different question...
Seems a 27 would have about a 215 rating with a chute, the 275 is much different

On Saturday we did compete in the Double hander we were actually doing well, keeping up with a J24 boat for boat to the windward mark... then the coast guard stole the windward mark so as the Cutter was approaching the mark (see attached photo, we're in the top right) as we really had no idea what they were doing we gave it a wide birth.

Then we had the chute wrap around the head stay, after 30 minutes to fix it we went off and did what we needed, we dropped and practiced deploying the chute... We need plenty of practice.

Haven't gotten a spin furler yet so that would make this much easier with just two of us... this is certainly making that a priority

 

[drewlamparello]

Tell us how you do in the double handed race

I'm considering purchasing a 275, the only reservation I have is the race performance. Can it sail to a fair rating? (ie how does it compare to an older C25 or C27?)

Steve

If you get down to Charleston, please reach out so we can take Spray out for a spin

 

[Will Gilmore]

(see attached photo, we're in the top right)

Ha ha ha! I thought that was the committee boat and was thinking, "Wow, that's a well financed club."

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[SteveLKN]

Download the "hints and advice" pdf from this link, Rigging instructions & sailmakers guide : Seldén Mast AB
to find mast tuning advice.