Rigging tension in mast up storage

[PuckandTitania]

We have our boat on the trailer in a mast up storage and getting ready to step the mast for the upcoming season. Is it better to leave the standing rigging a bit slack until time to sail and then set the tension? Or is it best to tune the rigging and leave set all season, and check before going out sailing?

 

[JoeWhite]

I would leave it tensioned.

 

[CaptDon01]

We also dry sail our C-22 at our yacht club. I have to disconnect the rear stay when we lift the boat so being lazy, I leave the rear stay loose to speed up the lauching process, but the rest of the rigging is left properly tuned so we can launch and go. Even those folks with adjustable back-stays leave them some what loose when storing the boat.

Don

 

[David in Sandusky]

Leave the rig tensioned

Leaving the rig loose will allow shock loading of the rig as it shifts in the winds, causing much higher stress than with a properly tuned rig.

 

[PuckandTitania]

I had thought about the shock loads, but was wondering about the compression load on the cabin top.

 

[peptobysmol]

I had thought about the shock loads, but was wondering about the compression load on the cabin top.

Keep it tensioned. If you lived in a year round sailing environment, you'd leave it tensioned. Don't fret. Just check your standing rigging often for defects.

 

[soling42]

If it's in the water for the season leave it tensioned. It won't hurt a production boat that's in good repair. There should be a compression post or bulkheads under the mast tabernacle that distribute the mast load down to the keel and not to the cabin roof. The shock loads can be enormous if you ever forgot to re-tighten your rig so as David stated, of course never sail your boat with any slack in the standing rigging.

If it's really easy and kept on the trailer and you have a set launch routine it couldn't hurt to ease it I suppose. I use a quick release lever on our forestay that'd make it very easy to untension the rig but I never do. See pic.


Have a great season, Mike

 

[dscribner]

I'm with Mike. We step our mast everytime we sail. I tension it in the spring then don't worry too much about it. I have a backstay lever as shown above but I step my mast forward so the lever is on the backstay. It works slick!