Rig Tension

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jsa
Posts: 89
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 4:17 pm
Location: North Carolina

Rig Tension

Post by jsa »

Hello everyone. I'm sorry to keep bombarding the forum with posts, but if you guys are like the Hobie group I know you're willing to help out a newbie such as myself.

Sailing yesterday, 10-12 kts, with the main up only, on a beam reach, I noticed that the forestay and backstay seemed really loose. The backstay was almost floppy. As in 6-8 inches of play. Does this boat like a loose rig? When at anchor, there also seems to be a fair amount of play in the shrouds.

I've just been sailing it with the settings from the previous owner.

One of my Hobie buddies used to tell me, "Tight is right." However, I know there are times when a loose rig is favored.

Is it worth getting a loos gauge? Are there preferred tension guidelines for the rig?

Thanks everyone.

Have I told ya'll how much I love this boat?
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CaptainScott
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Post by CaptainScott »

Well as far as questions go, FIRE AWAY!

I firmly believe that for every question asked and answered there at least 5 others with a similar question that did not ask.

C22 rigging tension:
I do not race and any advice I give is for enjoyable days on the water relaxing and maybe a bit of spirited sailing! Racers have differing opinions.

1) Read the C22 manuals on how to properly rig your Chrysler 1st!

click and scroll here:
http://www.captainscottsailing.com/php/ ... ocList.php

2) Shrouds.
A good general rule of thumb is to ensure your mast is perpendicular to the coach top of the boat. Snug each up such that there is no slack in them, then snug them up a little more. Nice and tight but not piano wire tight. Confirm mast is still straight! LOL! GO SAIL. you will notice that in a decent breeze the leeward shrouds will be slack. That is OK. Just try to even up the slackness between port and starboard when sailing. For example the port side is very slack and starboard is only a little slack then you can adjust port side a bit. Make sure mast is still straight Good enough and go sail! LOL!


3) As far as forstay and aft stay. check the rigging manual. Insure you have a proper adjustable aft stay. Notice yours has a split aft stay? not there to be pretty! It is meant to be adjustable. Yes only limited adjustments with a mast head rig but still . . . If you are rigged properly then a good general rule of thumb is to snug up the aft stay when beating or reaching and loosen the aft stay for running or very broad reaching.

That is good enough for 90% of us sailors!

Catamarans do not run well at all. So loosening the the aft stay is not worth the effort. Most catamarans will broad reach and tack down wind similar to tacking up wind as it makes for a much faster ride!

I sailed an 18' Solcat for years. Had the shrouds way to tight and actually snapped on in a blustery day on Puget Sound. Not fun dropping a 30' mast while sailing! Doh!

Remember you can really put way to much thought and effort into this subject or you can get things close enough and just go have a blast!! :)

Again, racers will have a differing opinion and I am OK with that!
Scott
jsa
Posts: 89
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 4:17 pm
Location: North Carolina

Post by jsa »

I appreciate all of your quick replies, Scott.

I don't feel as concerned about it now, but I'll still make sure to give it a good look over. Like you said, I've been more concerned with getting her on the water than anything else.

The Hobie is a different beast all together and you are right about them not running well. It is their absolute slowest point of sail, and a broad reach is much preferred to achieve VMG... and more fun! That is until she decides to do a somersault on you after stuffing the bows. It's an inherently loose rig that must be well raked to achieve pointing ability. But as you know, they are a blast to sail. We have the Hobie for racing and the Chrysler for pleasure. Although we will participate in the club's two keel boat races that they hold.

I do most of my sailing on a lake here in North Carolina called Lake Waccamaw. It's a roughly 3X5 mile oval lake, formed from the recession of the ancient seas that used to cover the eastern seaboard (most recent theory) and has an average depth of about eight feet. All of the cruisers on the lake are swing keels or centerboard boats. They pretty much have to be. The best thing about this lake is that it is only 25 miles or so from the coast, so you can pretty much set your watch to the 4:00 afternoon seabreeze in the summer and into fall. The lake seems to channel wind from the south east around this time of day until 8:00 or so.

Sorry to ramble about the lake. It's a cool place if you're into history and geology. It's also quite beautiful there.

http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/jsaut ... ort=2&o=38

I'll have to get another pic of our boat on the mooring.
ChrisC
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 2:46 pm
Location: Quincy, CA

Post by ChrisC »

Hi. I had the same question a few weeks ago. My shrouds are quite tight, though not rigid. The fore and aft stays, though, have a fair amount of give. They're not loose, but I can move them bu hand a few inches. Having the jib raised and tensioned seems to help stabilize the stays a bit.

As long as the mast isn't moving and the stays seem straight, you are probably tuned well enough.

On the aft stay I put a C.S. Johnson back stay adjuster. Not all boats had them, it was an option. I chose not to emulate the original configuration of three blocks and some kind of cleat because of cost and the compact nature of the Johnson adjuster seems very nice. link:

https://www.riggingandhardware.com/p-44 ... -wire.aspx

I used a boom vang from a dinghy as the control for the adjuster, anchoring it to the rear pulpit bracket on the port side. The bracket is still there though the pulpit itself is missing. Anyway, the configuration works fine. The book vang is sort of shabby, to be frank, and next season I will replace the configuration with a block with attached cam cleat. It doesn't need the 4x1 strength of a boom vang.

Congratulations on the boat. Have fun!
"There is nothing--absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." --Wind in the Willows
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