Tension on head stay back stay and upper and lowers. Roller furling and back stay adjustment.

[Charles Youker]

What should the tension on running rigging. Cat 30 tall mast.

 

[jssailem]

CY. Not sure what you are asking. You add and release the tension as needed for the point of sailing. More tension to draw the head stay tighter aides in up wind performance. Downwind one releases the tension on the back stays allowing for a fuller sail to enhance downwind speed.

What have you been doing and what do you want to gain?

 

[Charles Youker]

Tension on the rigging while not under sail.

 

[jssailem]

Ok. I reduce the backstay tension once not under sail. Enough to hold mast in column but a bit slack on the head stay. It reduces the downward pressure of the mast against the deck for my mast. It would reduce the downward pressure of the mast against the keel for keel stepped boats. I found when we had a blow come through the marina that the tension was too slack. The furler gave off an unpleasant vibration as it waved in the wind. Got up and tensioned the backstay. Resolved the problem. If you are talking about running back stays then you do not need them when not sailing. You might put light tension on them if conditions raise concern about the mast. The idea of running back stays are that they do not need to be tensioned when not needed.

 

[Charles Youker]

No running back stays. Before putting any tension on the rigging with the backstage how tight should my rigging be sitting at the dock.

 

[jssailem]

What should the tension on running rigging.

Ok my bad. I read this and concluded you had running back stays.

So you have an adjustable back stay, correct? (Pictures are always helpful).

Tension is such to hold the mast in column side stays and fore stay. You can get a loos gauge and get the specific tension. Or you can ask around at the marina or talk to a rigger. Would take 30-60 minutes of their time to tune your rig.

Once the side stays are tuned then you can adjust the back stay as needed. Side stay tension is boat mast specific. Mine is 18 pounds on all side stays. The forestay is straight but gives about 1" when I push on it. The backstay is adjustable. I have a Wichard adjuster on the stay and keep it about 7.5 at rest and 9.5 or 10 based on upwind tension required.

Hope that helps.

 

[jssailem]

Did a web search and found this link
http://www.catalina30.com/techlib/Commissioning/Mast tuning.doc

 

[Charles Youker]

Thank you for the help. I will check out the link. Thanks again.

 

[jssailem]

Also found this message and link from Jackdaw that may help with your rigging issues.

Running rigging should always be tensioned to about 15% of it's breaking strength. Most people underestimate this and leave it WAY too loose. Because wire stretches at a uniform rate based on its diameter, there is any easy way to set this up without a Loos gauge. It's called the folding rule method.

This guide from Selden explains it, and how to tune various rigs. A copy should be on every boat owners computer or tablet.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ilab8s9lqta2mjv/Selden Hints and Advice.pdf

 

[Charles Youker]

Thanks...

 

[Cayennita]

What should the tension on running rigging. Cat 30 tall mast.

Did you mean standing rigging? Running rigging is the halyards. Those, unless you are racing, you leave them alone. Why work?

 

[Charles Youker]

Standing rigging.

 

[Cayennita]

On my Catalina 30, the uppers are at a very tight rension. The leward just barely moves while the lowers move around about 4". That way the middle of the mast will more closely match the jib in the slot. No matter how much tension tbere is in the back stay, the headstay will sag. With my hoat at anchor or my mooring. The only tight stay is the D 1 or upper. The long one. I never tune my rig after the beginning of the racing season. Ifigure that one bad tack by the competition is sll I need.

 

[Charles Youker]

Thanks for the info...