Is there a way one can overtighten rigging?How do i know whats too tight and whats too loose?Is there some guide of reference specs to go by?Thanks!
Rigging tightening
- Thread starter icravewaves
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Research your boat yes you can over tighten and crush your mast pull chain plates or all that while sailing. it's called preload. And if overdone it will lead to heavy. Sheet load. You don't necessarily need a louse gauge but it helps. Seldon mast has a whole section on mast tuning if u got a newer boat
As I've posted before, the tension on the standing rigging is governed by the wire's physical properties. Not by the boat model or desire to make the boat sail better. If you over tighten the standing rigging you will likely bend the boat. You can confirm this by running a chalk line fore to aft. As you over tighten the standing rigging fore to aft the line will droop indicating that the boat is bending. You can do this with an adjustable back stay as well. And with shrouds it would take more over tightening to bend the boat athwartships, but it is possible and at lower tensions most of us would imagine. You can tell you're over tightening, and maybe bending the boat when you take up more turns on the turn buckle and the Loose gauge doesn't show an increase in tension.
Thank you so much!
I will definitely look further into this.Some say i need to tighten some say i need to loosen and its driving me nuts! (Not here on the app,but other boaters in the area im in)
I will definitely look further into this.Some say i need to tighten some say i need to loosen and its driving me nuts! (Not here on the app,but other boaters in the area im in)
Not necessarily like below. From a purely empirical approach I start with getting the mast straight fore and aft with the backstay and forestay at the dock. You can then tighten the backstay a bit extra to achieve a couple of inches of rake and that will keep the forestay from sagging. Run a tape measure to the top of the mast and check for the same dimension on each side of the boat. That way you know the mast is vertical from side to side. You may need to loosen the shrouds on one side, then tighten the exact same number of turns on the other side. Then go out sailing in 10 knots or less wind close hauled to the wind. Look and see if the leeward shrouds are loose. If so, the goal is not to take out all the slack. Rather, take half out and count the number of turns on each turnbuckle. Then, tack and tighten the new leeward shrouds the exact same number of turns. This will keep the mast centered. Tack back and observe the leeward shrouds. If still slack, repeat the process of removing the slack half at a time and adjusting both sides equally until it is just tight. You can err on the side of a little slack. Stand the boat upright and feel the tension. After a while you might get used to how tight gives the best performance. Wander around and check neighboring boats to get an idea of the range of tension on them as well.
Good luck.
Good luck.
All Catalina boat owners manuals have excellent rigging tuning guides.
Read this for a good background; http://www.seldenmast.com/files/595-540-E.pdf
And buy one of these for your wire size; Sailboat Rigging Tension Gauge from Loos & Co., PT-1 Professional Hands-Free Force Gauge for Tensioning and Tuning of Shrouds, Cable Rigs, Wire Rope Standing Rigging, and Forestays, for 3/32, 1/8, and 5/32 inch Cable Diameter: Force Gauges: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
And buy one of these for your wire size; Sailboat Rigging Tension Gauge from Loos & Co., PT-1 Professional Hands-Free Force Gauge for Tensioning and Tuning of Shrouds, Cable Rigs, Wire Rope Standing Rigging, and Forestays, for 3/32, 1/8, and 5/32 inch Cable Diameter: Force Gauges: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
Also, this thread might help
Shroud tension? Catalina 27- 1984
What tension (per a Loos guage) should I have on my Shrouds on a 1984 Catalina 27 ???
forums.sailboatowners.com
There's 2 types of tune here, tight San Francisco style and less tight for light air San Diego style, even my rigger and I disagree because I keep my boat SF style. Most notable difference is at 20 kts you might get a little slack on the lowers for the SD tune. Once you get a static tune you toss the gauges and start dabbling in the black art of dynamic tuning, some guys with good ears can use a tuning fork method.
If you're really lost in all of this or have a new-to-you boat, you can do what I did and hire a local rigger. For a couple hundred bucks, he'll come out and tune your rig (to what he thinks is) perfectly. If you'd like to do it yourself, ask before hiring if he minds you watching and learning. Most riggers I've dealt with, or other competent professionals, have no problem with your watching and learning. I keep mine in-tune myself, but every few years I'll re-hire the same rigger to check me. He also asks about performance, pointing, and helm weight problems I've had, and tries to adjust accordingly.
