I recently purchase my first sailboat, a 1997 H26 and have been reviewing the archives on rigging and tuning. The first thing I purchased for the boat was an owners manual which has helped greatly in bringing the boat back to sailing condition (long story). I have not seen or raised the mast of a H26 before now. It has a Z-spar mast and have talked to Julian at US-Spar once on another matter. I purchased new upper shrouds and was comparing the red marings on the old shrouds and have noted some issues that I need help in understanding. 1) The red markings on the original shrouds where the spreader tips clamped to the shrouds are not located in the same position. Is this an issue or just not an exact science? I was using the markings as a reference to mount the new shrouds. 2) There was considerable slack in the old shrouds above the spreader and mast attach point. I did not attempt to raise the mast with the old shrouds attached and do not know if raising the mast would have tighten up the slack. But I assume that doing so would have caused a downward bending of the spreader. How much slack, if any, should be in the new upper shrouds between the spreader and where it attaches to the mast. Any help would be greatly appreciated! The boat has been in the water once and that was to break-in the new outboard. It time to hoist the sails and enjoy the fruits of my labor.