Shroud and stay tension - H240

[chriscampbell]

I know this has been discussed many times, and I did search and read first. Wasn't finding exactly what I needed, so here we are.

I'm concerned I may have over-tensioned my shrouds. My forestay seems a little bit loose, but the turnbuckle threads are all the way in. The mast appears to me to have too much rake. With no rear stay, I figured the only option I had was to tighten the lower shrouds to try to add tension to the forestay and take some of the bend out. However, now it just seems like my shrouds are super tight and nothing else changed much. Worried I may have overtightened the shrouds. It's such pain in the butt to mess with the turnbuckles with the boat on the water. I dropped three cotter rings in the lake over the weekend. lol

I'm wondering if I need new rigging if I'm out of threads on the forestay, or just need to start over. Any advice?

 

[jviss]

In my experience shrouds and stays don't just suddenly get longer unless there's a failure involved - like one or more broken strands. Check it out. Otherwise, it could just be rigged incorrectly, like wrong mast rake, etc. For tension the best is to get a Loos gauge, else you can use the cumbersome steel tape measure method of measuring wire rope stretch. First is to talk to other H240 owners.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Pictures of mast and prebend side views please. Include those of turnbuckles. Is the forestay turnbuckle turned all the way down?

 

[Joe]

Start over. Follow the guide in owner's manual, The forestay does not rely on tension the way the shrouds do. Rather than tension, you are concerned with "sag" and balance. Downwind the forestay will be somewhat slack, upwind the change in pressure on the sails will return a degree of tension on the stay. Another factor that will affect it is the amount of mainsheet tension, which will put tension on the leech, creating a bit of backstay like force. A powerful Cunningham can also help substitute for no backstay. note below.

So before you start spending money and changing things around, go sailing. Head up to the bow and check the forestay on various points of sail. You'll notice the variation. On a fractional, swept back rig with no backstay, the Cunningham can affect mast bend as well as luff tension, so you'll want it to be powerful. Bending the mast will tension the forestay to remove sag when sailing upwind. So, one option is to add some purchase to your existing Cunningham, or simply cleat it near a winch for a little extra power,

 

[chriscampbell]

Pictures of mast and prebend side views please. Include those of turnbuckles. Is the forestay turnbuckle turned all the way down?

I'm going to try to get out there this evening. I'll take some pics, but my plan is to start over.

 

[chriscampbell]

Start over. Follow the guide in owner's manual, The forestay does not rely on tension the way the shrouds do. Rather than tension, you are concerned with "sag" and balance. Downwind the forestay will be somewhat slack, upwind the change in pressure on the sails will return a degree of tension on the stay. Another factor that will affect it is the amount of mainsheet tension, which will put tension on the leech, creating a bit of backstay like force. A powerful Cunningham can also help substitute for no backstay. note below.

So before you start spending money and changing things around, go sailing. Head up to the bow and check the forestay on various points of sail. You'll notice the variation. On a fractional, swept back rig with no backstay, the Cunningham can affect mast bend as well as luff tension, so you'll want it to be powerful. Bending the mast will tension the forestay to remove sag when sailing upwind. So, one option is to add some purchase to your existing Cunningham, or simply cleat it near a winch for a little extra power,

Thanks for the tips. I agree that I need to start over.