Macklin, The Loos gauge makes a difference.
A lot of sailors tune their rigs by feel, sight, instinct or possibly the relation of the stars to the moon. Myself, I've found the Loos gauge to be quite accurate at allowing repeated levels of fine tuning for anyone with my lower level of intelligence. The gauge gives you the rated level of stress in pounds. Usually you adjust to 10% of breaking strength of the wire. There are procedures for adjusting your shrouds and stays in the archives of this and the "Hunter Owners" web sited. On my 80 C22 I adjust my shrouds, fore and backstay, mast rake and mast bend all to spec's using my Loos gauge and a tape measure. The difference in performance is stunning and well worth the time to learn how to do it. I do mine twice a year and sail about 4 to 5 afternoons a week so the boat does get a workout. I have and use an adjustable backstay. This is a very easy modification and well worth it to do. I would advise you not to run with a very loose forestay/backstay without being knowledgeable in rig tuning! This can only lead to problems unless you have an adjustable backstay and know the why and how of using it. There are many excellent articules on tuning and a lot of sailors on this site that would help you learn if that is your desire. Ray
