I never know how tight my side stays and frone stay should be. Should it be very tight with no give or should there be some give. Are the stays holding up the mast or is it the stays?
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eye tight / hand loose
i have been told, and have used this rule of thumb for thirty years. when sailing full and by the wind. beam reaching at hull speed. the stays should look tight, but feel loose. this might vary depending on how sturdy your boat is. all of my boats have been well built. it is probably best to contact the company that builds your boat and see what they say. too much sag in the stays or shrouds allows the mast to move too much, thereby enhancing the opportunity for fatigue failures in fittings and rigging. the uppers should be tighter than the lowers, because they will stretch more under load. when adjusting, lie on the deck and look up the mast to make sure the mast is not bending athwartships.
i have been told, and have used this rule of thumb for thirty years. when sailing full and by the wind. beam reaching at hull speed. the stays should look tight, but feel loose. this might vary depending on how sturdy your boat is. all of my boats have been well built. it is probably best to contact the company that builds your boat and see what they say. too much sag in the stays or shrouds allows the mast to move too much, thereby enhancing the opportunity for fatigue failures in fittings and rigging. the uppers should be tighter than the lowers, because they will stretch more under load. when adjusting, lie on the deck and look up the mast to make sure the mast is not bending athwartships.
Tuning procedure
The link below gives our procedure for tuning our 27 footer. But you would need to adapt it to your boat. If you tell us what model you have, we can help you more specifically. Here are some thoughts on adapting it to your rig: Get a Loos tension guage from West Marine or another marine store. Determine the yield strength of your stays. Our 3/16's stays are rated at 5,000 pounds. The tension for the lowers should be around 10 percent of the rated strength, while the uppers should be closer to 15 percent. Robert is on the right track, you can do the final tuning of the rig underway. But the criteria is that the leeward stays remain tight even under maximum load - the best indicator of load on the rig is the degree of heel, regardless of the point of sail, or wind speed. Any looseness of the stays will allow the mast to move in a sudden tack or gybe. The movement of the mast will result in a "shock" load on the opposite stays when they stop the mast, and take the load of the wind. This shock load can be high enough to part a stay and cost you the rig. Adjust the rake measurement proportionally from 7 inches depending on whether your mast is taller or shorter than our 37 footer. If you have a B&R rig (swept back spreaders, and no backstay - used on Hunters for the past 15 years or so) Forget everything I said. Find the link to B&R tuning on this site, and follow those directions. David Lady Lillie
The link below gives our procedure for tuning our 27 footer. But you would need to adapt it to your boat. If you tell us what model you have, we can help you more specifically. Here are some thoughts on adapting it to your rig: Get a Loos tension guage from West Marine or another marine store. Determine the yield strength of your stays. Our 3/16's stays are rated at 5,000 pounds. The tension for the lowers should be around 10 percent of the rated strength, while the uppers should be closer to 15 percent. Robert is on the right track, you can do the final tuning of the rig underway. But the criteria is that the leeward stays remain tight even under maximum load - the best indicator of load on the rig is the degree of heel, regardless of the point of sail, or wind speed. Any looseness of the stays will allow the mast to move in a sudden tack or gybe. The movement of the mast will result in a "shock" load on the opposite stays when they stop the mast, and take the load of the wind. This shock load can be high enough to part a stay and cost you the rig. Adjust the rake measurement proportionally from 7 inches depending on whether your mast is taller or shorter than our 37 footer. If you have a B&R rig (swept back spreaders, and no backstay - used on Hunters for the past 15 years or so) Forget everything I said. Find the link to B&R tuning on this site, and follow those directions. David Lady Lillie
Leeward stays
I was told by a sailmaker that one of the ways a novice like me could check is to take the boat out on a day with about 10 - 12 knots of breeze and put up both main and jib. Go hard on the wind and check the leeward stays. They should be just tight enough so they do not wiggle at all. Not very scientific, but a good start. The first step is to make sure the mast is straight - side to side and fore and aft.
I was told by a sailmaker that one of the ways a novice like me could check is to take the boat out on a day with about 10 - 12 knots of breeze and put up both main and jib. Go hard on the wind and check the leeward stays. They should be just tight enough so they do not wiggle at all. Not very scientific, but a good start. The first step is to make sure the mast is straight - side to side and fore and aft.
BASIC RIG-TUNING
This may be a bit redundant, as you’ve already read some good advice from previous posters. Stainless steel does not like to be under constantly changing tensile loads, so one objective of rig-tuning is to maintain a degree of tightness that doesn't allow this to happen. Most rig failures come from too light tension over a long period of time which causes fatigue in the wire and its connections (turnbuckles, chainplates, etc). Race boats use flexible rigs with backstay adjusters and other strategies to modify the rig underway, changing mast bend and sail shape. Good stuff for the racer, but not appropriate for the lone cruising boat. The prime objective for the cruising rig is to fix the mast in position and keep it there under all conditions. Many people have their boat yard tune the rig when the boat is launched. They then sail off for the season with no further concern for the rig. Actually, the rig will change during the first few weeks after launch. The boat assumes its in-the-water shape which may be somewhat different than its on-the-hard shape. The rig will subsequently change and further tuning should be done. There are three basic rules of thumb: 1. Opposing shrouds must have the same tension. 2. Tension order - The forestay must have the most tension (see notes below). The upper shrouds come next, then the lower forward shrouds, and finally the lower aft shrouds and the backstay. 3. Tension the shrouds so that, when heeled to about 15 deg you can almost feel some looseness (to lee)... but you can't see it ... It's "snug", but not as tight. This is done at sea obviously, and something that should be regularly observed. Notes: 1. Getting proper forestay tension may be just guesswork if you have roller furling. 2. Tensioning the forward lowers slightly more than the aft lowers should produce a slight pre-bend in the mast when the backstay is tensioned. You'll see it if you sight up the mainsail track. It should be barely noticeable. This pre-bend just tells the mast in what direction to bend when loaded. It stops fore and aft "pumping" of the mast that can cause metal fatigue. 3. Although some sailors agonize about mast rake, in my opinion, most rigs are not particularly rake sensitive. Mast rake should not be confused with mast bend. Mast rake is how much your mast leans aft towards the transom. The amount of mast rake you might chose depends on the conditions you sail in. If winds are mostly light then a small amount of mast rake might be preferred. If, however, the wind tends to be stronger most of the time slightly more mast rake be beneficial. The easiest method to measure Mast rake is to hang a Plum Bob on the main Halyard, preferably on a windless day. HTH Gord
This may be a bit redundant, as you’ve already read some good advice from previous posters. Stainless steel does not like to be under constantly changing tensile loads, so one objective of rig-tuning is to maintain a degree of tightness that doesn't allow this to happen. Most rig failures come from too light tension over a long period of time which causes fatigue in the wire and its connections (turnbuckles, chainplates, etc). Race boats use flexible rigs with backstay adjusters and other strategies to modify the rig underway, changing mast bend and sail shape. Good stuff for the racer, but not appropriate for the lone cruising boat. The prime objective for the cruising rig is to fix the mast in position and keep it there under all conditions. Many people have their boat yard tune the rig when the boat is launched. They then sail off for the season with no further concern for the rig. Actually, the rig will change during the first few weeks after launch. The boat assumes its in-the-water shape which may be somewhat different than its on-the-hard shape. The rig will subsequently change and further tuning should be done. There are three basic rules of thumb: 1. Opposing shrouds must have the same tension. 2. Tension order - The forestay must have the most tension (see notes below). The upper shrouds come next, then the lower forward shrouds, and finally the lower aft shrouds and the backstay. 3. Tension the shrouds so that, when heeled to about 15 deg you can almost feel some looseness (to lee)... but you can't see it ... It's "snug", but not as tight. This is done at sea obviously, and something that should be regularly observed. Notes: 1. Getting proper forestay tension may be just guesswork if you have roller furling. 2. Tensioning the forward lowers slightly more than the aft lowers should produce a slight pre-bend in the mast when the backstay is tensioned. You'll see it if you sight up the mainsail track. It should be barely noticeable. This pre-bend just tells the mast in what direction to bend when loaded. It stops fore and aft "pumping" of the mast that can cause metal fatigue. 3. Although some sailors agonize about mast rake, in my opinion, most rigs are not particularly rake sensitive. Mast rake should not be confused with mast bend. Mast rake is how much your mast leans aft towards the transom. The amount of mast rake you might chose depends on the conditions you sail in. If winds are mostly light then a small amount of mast rake might be preferred. If, however, the wind tends to be stronger most of the time slightly more mast rake be beneficial. The easiest method to measure Mast rake is to hang a Plum Bob on the main Halyard, preferably on a windless day. HTH Gord
"some looseness," Gord?
Since this your the tension standard of the whole rig, can you define it a little more rigorously? Maybe you could also explain how a stay with some looseness (even if invisible to the eye)avoids "constantly changing tensile loads." Most procedures I have read for tuning underway (as opposed to the measured approach I described below) tighten the stays until there is no slack or looseness on the leeward stays, and then tighten them all two or three turns to avoid shock loading in a tack of gybe. David Lady Lillie
Since this your the tension standard of the whole rig, can you define it a little more rigorously? Maybe you could also explain how a stay with some looseness (even if invisible to the eye)avoids "constantly changing tensile loads." Most procedures I have read for tuning underway (as opposed to the measured approach I described below) tighten the stays until there is no slack or looseness on the leeward stays, and then tighten them all two or three turns to avoid shock loading in a tack of gybe. David Lady Lillie
Rod Rigging?
Does the same 'feel' under pressure/load apply to rod rigging? (I didn't think that the LOOS guage was applicable to rod rigging.) My local yard guru imparted to me that the rod rig was 'very strong' and needed to be ' TIGHT! ' all the time... Thoughts on that?
Does the same 'feel' under pressure/load apply to rod rigging? (I didn't think that the LOOS guage was applicable to rod rigging.) My local yard guru imparted to me that the rod rig was 'very strong' and needed to be ' TIGHT! ' all the time... Thoughts on that?
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