shroud tension on Oday 222

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David

According to my LOOS Tension gauge,the shrouds should have a tension of 220. I have the outers measuring app.220 but the inner shrouds measure between 160 and 180.I had the same problem last year.Is this acceptable?
 
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Dave K.

Two questions

Do you have the original jib set-up, or has your boat been converted to a CDI? And do you have the original manual with the rigging instructions? According to the manual that came with my 192(which covers both boats), the lowers are supposed to be no more than hand-tight. This allows the mast to bend forward when the mainsheet rotates the triangle plate, tensioning the backstay. There are cautions in the manual about not overtightening any of the rigging. If the boat has the original wire luff "flying" jib, the forestay should be carrying only part of the rig tension when the jib is up and winched tight. If you have a CDI, then it's a normal tensioned forestay.
 
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david

original rig

I have all original rigging. I do not have a manual for this boat. If I keep the outer at the 220 and hand tighten the lowers I should be ok?
 
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Dave K.

Not sure....

Although this is not in the manual, I've gotten the best results by tuning the rig with the jib hoisted and tightened with the halyard winch. What I noticed was: Tightening the jib halyard added tension everywhere but the forestay. The manual is specific that the forestay should not be under full tension when the jib is hoisted. You need the jib's wire luff pulled tight to get good upwind performance. Tensioning the jib halyard also bows the mast a little to the starboard side since the winch is offset to port. You can take the bow out by tightening the port lower a bit more than the starboard. I don't have a LOOS gauge but made all the adjustments without using a wrench (I had to use pliers to hold the wire side still while I turned the turnbuckle by hand) and with the jib hoisted. If I "pluck" the uppers they are tight enough to make a low musical note. The port lower is taut, but not enough to sing. the starboard lower just kind of buzzes. With the jib up, the backstay has the slack removed (but remember it gets tightened by the mainsheet rotating the triangle plate) and the forestay can ge moved side to side about two inches without applying a lot of force (taut, not tight). If tension is taken off the jib halyard the forestay becomes about as tight as the upper shrouds. What you don't want is the forestay to be tight when the jib halyard is tight. Then, when the backstay is tightened by rotating the triangle plate, the increased backstay force would be opposed by the tight forestay instead of applying more tension to the wire luff of the jib, and a tight luff is what we want for best sail shape. I know this rig sounds kind of slack to someone used to a rigid masthead rig, but once you get underway and the mainsheet tightens up the backstay the rig looks great. As the wind picks up, the increased pull on the backstay introduces an arc in the mast which flattens (depowers) the mainsail. This is one of the desireable qualities of a fractional rig. The arc brings the mounting point for the shrouds a little closer to the deck and the leeward shrouds will be slack or even loose in those conditions. This is mentioned as expected in the manual - It specifically says not to tighen shrouds when underway. I hope all this is of some help. If you can't get a manual from Rudy, maybe we can figure out a way to get mine scanned and put up here on the website.
 
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