Shroud & Stay Diameters For H34

[Joe Mullee]

Shroud & Stay Diameters & Tension For H34??

Tomorrow I'm going to try to tune the rig using all the info I've found in the archives (thanks Dan, both Claude's, Allan, Donalex, Vinn, Steve, and a host of others). While sailing my leeward shrouds are fairly loose and the two year old main (Lee Sails) has a wrinkle in the middle on all points of sail. Some dock mates that have more sailing experiance than I and that have gone sailing on my boat over the past few weeks suggest the rig definitely needs tuning.

One of the tools I borrowed for the job is a Loos guage. Does anyone know the correct diameters for the shorouds and stays on the H34 as well as the amount of tension for each? I believe the shrouds are 1/4" but the backstay appears to be a bit narrower. Mine is a 1983, hull #170.

Any advise, as always, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe Mullee

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Hi Joe,

Here is the info I've garnered for the 34 over the years from various sources and my own measurements on my 84. Understand that changes may have been made by PO on your's. When tuning the mast, start from the lower shrouds, work your way to middle shrouds and finish with mast head shrouds. Make sure mast is straight. Don't lock the turnbuckles just yet. Go out in about 10 to 12 knots and sail the boat tacking to port and starboard several times. Go back to the dock, remeasure with the Loos gauge to final tune and lock the turnbuckles. Good luck

 

[Joe Mullee]

Thank you Claude. I'm heading to the boat now. Forcast is 10-12 SW with 50-55F temps. Should be a good a good day as long as the rains hold off.

Joe

 

[Dan Johnson]

Joe...

The edge of the Loos gages have notches that you use to determine the diameter of the wire you'll be tuning and what table to use to make the proper setting.

I found that the two smaller "professional" ones I have were too small for the H34 rigging and had to borrow the next size up to do tuning. That one costs significant boat bucks so see if you can borrow one if you need it.

 

[Joe Mullee]

Re: Joe...

Dan & Claude,

I borrowed the big Loos Guage and had a dockmate with lots more knowledge than I help me tune the rig yesterday. Then we went sailing. No more crease in the main (yay!) and I swear she's tacking tighter than before. I appreciate the help.

Joe

 

[Richard Bryer]

Did you find that the rig is tighter now? What changes are in the tuning now?
Thanks Joe

 

[Joe Mullee]

Richard,

Yeah, it's definitely tighter now. Apparently my rig was very poorly tuned and though I knew it needed attention I didn't realize how bad it was. Before we did anything we took measurements using the Loos Guage (model PT Series, the big one) on all the shrouds and the backstay and did an eyeball assesment from all sides. First, the mast looked like it was bowed in the middle, it wasn't as straight as it should have been with the bend at the top. The bend (or bow) that was there was probably 8 inches. It was so much I didn't even bother to measure it. Then the highest tension on any of the wires was about 7-8% of breaking strength with a few having as little as 6%. After tuning it up using the info that Claude provided in this thread (which corresponded to what Loos suggested as well) my mast is straight up to about the steaming light where it bends slightly. We measured the bend from the top of the mast to the base and it's right at 5 inches now. The main halyard reaches opposite points on the toe rail with the same measurement. And the wires all have the proper percent of tension (again, open Claudes attachment). The only wire that did not gain any appreachable change was the backstay. It actually may be a bit looser now then before. It's something I need to pay attention to over the next few months. It took us several hours to get it right but when I raised the sail yesterday afternoon it fit the mast like a glove. I had thought the sail was not cut correctly and never realized it was the improperly tuned rig that was the problem. Another lesson learned.

It was definitely long over due and worth the time to do it. I plan on tuning it every year from here on out.

Joe

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Glad I could be of some help and glad the tuning went well Joe. As for the backstay, with the 30 degrees swept back spreaders, since the 34 is masthead rigged, I've believe that it needs to be only tight enough to keep the headstay good and tight. And that is what I do ! Because the forestay and backstay are at different angles, with the backstay being the longer of the two you have a situation where the tensions are not equal, and forestay tension will be higher than the backstay tension. As you normally cannot put a gauge on the forestay because of the furling gear, you need to make an allowance when tensioning the backstay, and not tension it too much.

Remember that tensioning the backstay does pull the top of the mast backwards, but also in doing so does alter the shroud tensions !!!

 

[Dan Johnson]

Shrouds & Stays...

I have a Hyde Stream-Stay headsail furler which uses a solid SS foil so there isn't much additional tension that can be applied to take much sag out of it. The side shroud tension contributes to the mast positioning. With a similar crease as Joe's, I will be retensioning to achieve a better mainsail shape this year.

Keep it up, Joe--You'll be the fastest H34 on the Bay!