rigg

[mike]

the manual said to only hand tighten the rigging. how do i know what hand tight is. the rigging still looks losse.

 

[Gene Kauffman]

check your mast sep

Mike, Make sure your mast step is not compressing your cabin overhead and cabin floor. I found on my 22 the rig was loose until I discovered the teak trim on the bulkhead is actually also transfers the mast step to the keel. On my boat both the cabin overhead AND the cabin sole (floor) were compressed, which brought the whole mast down making my stays floppy. In fact my head and back stays were tightened all the way up and were still loose. I'm in the process of placing a stainless plate on the cabin sole and one above to spread the the strain over a larger area. I'm going to remove the mast and use a small hydraulic jack to a 2by4 with carpet on top to GENTLY raise the cabin top so I can install the stainless plates. For the correct tension read some of the later posts on rigging.Gene

 

[Rich]

Like the man said

Mike, Gene's reply is right on the money here. I had the same compression/sinking problems with the compression post inside the cabin sole. I jacked up the interior of the coach roof just about where the compression post is and installed an elongated diamond shaped piece of high grade stainless steel under the mast compression post. I had to saw off a saw blade's thickness worth of the bottom of the wooden compression post--I used a flat backsaw laid on its side on the cabin sole to do this. I also drilled out and removed the core material between the top skin and lower skin of the fiberglass cabin sole where the corners of the stainless plate would rest on the sole. I filled those holes (like little hockey pucks) with thickened epoxy so that the corners of the stainless plate would not eventually compress and crack the fiberglass--i.e., to transfer/bear the compression load distributed now by the plate rather than just the single end of the wooden compression post. This has worked fabulously. I have since used a professional tuning gauge--buy one for $75.00 if you're serious about keeping your boat in tip top tune or borrow one from a racing nut in your area (like me)--this will allow you to tune your rig properly and accurately. Believe me, a tuned rig will make a huge difference in how your boat handles and sails. I have absolutely no weather helm when trimmed correctly and my boat points unbelievably well.See my photos/step-by-step repair guide in the link below. Any questions, post back here & I'll try to answer/help.Happy Sailing,Rich Lemmler, Jr.s/v TIME BANDIT1975 O'Day 22