Is there a cheap way to gauge dinghy standing rigging tension?

Greenheart

Greenheart

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Might put the mast up tomorrow, assuming my fingers don't freeze to the metal on first contact.

Very long time since I had to do this...and my only clear recollection, is of getting it wrong and asking for guidance then, as now.

The trouble was the shroud tension; none of the settings available from the holes in the chainplates seemed to leave the mast exactly vertical. I'm guessing a lot of tension is much better than any degree of slackness, but how do I know if I'm applying too much?

I'm not desperately keen to spend £100 on a tension-gauge. Are there any clever ways of judging it approximately, on the cheap?
 
Before putting mast up check shrouds same length (would not be first time).

On most dinghy you do not really tighten the for-stay, just use it to make sure the mast does not fall down.

The jib halyard is used to tighten the for-stay. normally has adjustments. Until you find what tension is right for you, people will tell you that it is wrong.
When you have found the tension that is right for you, you then go and tell everyone else they are wrong.

Obviously this is needs to be done with instruments expensive special instruments...

Take one hand pull on said shroud/ forestay (some people even check all 3!) and pull to feel the tension. There are people who "twang" wires and listen to the note but these are obviously frustrated musician not sailors!

As for chain plates they adjust the angle of the mast, start with when it looks right, then try a few above and a few below on different days sailing till you get a nice feel tot he boat.

Unless your racing to the highest levels I think the tension makes very little difference... As long as the jib does not sag off to much and it does not feel to tight, you are about right...
 
Yep

go to any keen sailing club and borrow a gauge off a knob who has all the gear and no idea!

Assume you have seen this Dan!

http://www.northsails.com/tuningguides/TuningGuides/TuningGuidesOsprey/tabid/9269/Default.aspx

Have you got a long tape measure?

They are not looking to set mast vertcal!

Most dinghies set rig tension with the Jib haliard not the forestay.....

Before buying a rig tension meter I used to get crew to pull on forestay whilst I then used a highfield lever to take up the slack in the jib haliard and apply sufficient tension. On windy days he pulled very hard and the highfield would be on its max setting. No idea how much foot pounds were applied but it usually kept the jib luff from sagging.

You know when you have applied too much when the boat gets shorter or narrower due to hull distortion!:o
 
I seem to remember from another thread it is an Osprey.
If you're tone-deaf strumming the shrouds may not work. Can't see the downside myself. He's looking to potter about so as long as the mast doesn't fall down and the lee shroud don't trail in the water, what's the odds?

Some dinghies have no rig tension, by design. Open clinker dinghies use very little tension. Easy to distort a light dinghy with too much tension.
 
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For what you're doing it's not too critical.

Just make sure that there's enough so that the leeward shroud doesn't go slack and floppy when you're sailing upwind. If it does, then stick a bit more tension on it until it doesn't do it any more.

Rake setup won't be too critical too, so start with the middle setting and play with it from there.
 
If it is a Wayfarer, then the standard rig tension is 350 lbs. However a simple way to set up any boat is to check shrouds are all the same length. Adjust mast rake to the class standard, checkHartley Boats for this, then go sailing in 10 knots of breeze and sail to windward. Adjust shrouds so that when beating the leeward shroud is just tighter than slack. This will be a good starting point.
 
Sorry. It's an Osprey.

This give way more information than you need http://www.northsails.com/tuningguides/TuningGuides/TuningGuidesOsprey/tabid/9269/Default.aspx

I would hardly expect any rig tuning guide to aim for less than racing perfection. For just pottering and not pressing hard I'd just go for what has been suggested. Tight enough so the lee shroud just slackens a tad when you're getting a bit of speed up.
At the 400lbs tension the guide suggests you're hardly going to get that without some serious effort, so just aim the get the mast rake and side-to-side settings OK.

Older boats tend to give in places you don't expect when you load up the rigging.
 
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TSB240 said:
Yep

"...go to any keen sailing club and borrow a gauge off a knob who has all the gear and no idea!"

"...No idea how much foot pounds were applied but it usually kept the jib luff from sagging."
Click to expand...

Yeah, ok...

Dan make sure your friendly dinghy sailing knob hands you a rig tension gauge and not a torque wrench...
 
Lakesailor said:
Sorry. It's an Osprey.

This give way more information than you need http://www.northsails.com/tuningguides/TuningGuides/TuningGuidesOsprey/tabid/9269/Default.aspx

I would hardly expect any rig tuning guide to aim for less than racing perfection. For just pottering and not pressing hard I'd just go for what has been suggested. Tight enough so the lee shroud just slackens a tad when you're getting a bit of speed up.
At the 400lbs tension the guide suggests you're hardly going to get that without some serious effort, so just aim the get the mast rake and side-to-side settings OK.

Older boats tend to give in places you don't expect when you load up the rigging.
Click to expand...


Yep

We tuned up an old GP for the 24 Hour Southport race.

Rig kept going slack so we wound on the tension. more and more until 10hours into the race mast foot took the keel clean out of the bottom of the hull.
 
TSB240 said:
We tuned up an old GP for the 24 Hour Southport race. Rig kept going slack so we wound on the tension until 10hours into the race mast foot took the keel clean out of the bottom of the hull.
Click to expand...

That's not frightfully reassuring! But I'd understood that too little tension puts the rig at more risk than too much?

Is it worth gently twanging the standing rigging of other dinghies in the park, and guessing when my own is similar? Assuming the other boats have it right...:rolleyes:
 
dancrane said:
That's not frightfully reassuring! But I'd understood that too little tension puts the rig at more risk than too much?

Is it worth gently twanging the standing rigging of other dinghies in the park, and guessing when my own is similar? Assuming the other boats have it right...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
You've got the answer right there.

Ask someone there to see if your rigging seems right for some gentle sailing. Don't ask the bloke with the crinkly sails.
 
I was thinking more of the noise they make rather than the saggy-arsed look.......... :D


April-1st-Dinghy-Race-Report-Helford-River-Sailing-Club-6.jpg
 
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