Rig tension.

[srm]

Personally I have no idea what the “2 metre tape thing is”. But unless I was racing (in which case use proper tension guage and boat specific tuning guide) I just have a heave at the shrouds to assess tension. Get them pretty tight by feel (half inch or so movement), then go sailing in a bit of a breeze, sheet in tight and check the lee side doesn’t go too slack. Not too much science.

I have set up mast head rigs on cruising boats this way for around 50 years. Both single and double spreaders, alloy and one tall tapered wood mast. As we took masts out when lifting ashore every winter to reduce risk of boats blowing over it was an annual ritual for around 15 years. I always put a slight pre bend in the mast as backstays remained tensioned once set up.

Once the internet came along I found the Kemp rigging guide, which was absorbed by Selden when they took the company over. It made a useful point in that it was unlikely you could over tension if using hand tools with no more than about 12 inch (30cm) lever.

When using new wire I have had to re-tension the rig after sailing in fresh conditions which I put down to the wire bedding in and stretching a little. One memorable time in the middle of the Norwegian sea in a F8-9 when the lee rigging looked a bit too loose. Then adjusted the whole rig when in a sheltered anchorage.

Going back to the OP. When was the rig set up as you mention 2021 rigging and after a few months it was not as tight. Have you been sailing with it "not as tight" for around three years or are you referring to having set the rigging up this season. It you think the rigging is slack I would re-tension it, and would not be surprised at new wire bedding in. However, as others have mentioned needing to re-tension older wire could indicate structural problems. Older wood boats might leave their rigs at a slightly lower tension to avoid opening the garboard strake.

 

[Daydream believer]

30' masthead sloop rig tension. 2021 rigging.

I have read the books, done the 2 metre tape thing. But then after a few months it's not as tight as it once was. So, do i slack it all off and start again with the 2 metre tape, but now with pre stretched wire, or what? . The books are silent on this.

Thanks for all input.

Going back to your post I would slacken off & start again. A good check on the effect of boat bend is if there is a door across the boat near the bulkhead. When My last rigging was fitted, the forecabin door jammed shut. Not the riggers fault. More a case of my incorrect tensioning coupled with flex on the stand. Once the boat went back in the water I was actually able to increase tension & the door opened & closed properly.
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If you really want to get technical, string a taught thin line from somewhere right up forward inside the bow, through the middle of the boat to the transom. Measure the heigth to the keel bolts. Tension the rig with a nice tight backstay. Check the measurement from line to the keel bolts again. The difference might shock you. I know of a brand new 3/4 tonner, where the dimension varied by 1 1/2 inches & the designer was quite happy.

 

[Bobc]

No it does not. It suggests it’s new, and the stretch is normal. If your boat is that floppy it’s probably time to take a chainsaw to it.

I disagree. Not on the type of rig the OP has.

 

[dunedin]

No it does not. It suggests it’s new, and the stretch is normal. If your boat is that floppy it’s probably time to take a chainsaw to it.

We have no details on the age or type of boat. Some boats are well known for having issues with the deck stepped mast support failing. In that case winding in more tension would cause more problems. So it is a reasonable question to ask why the rig seems to have suddenly slackened 3 years after renewal.

 

[Bobc]

We have no details on the age or type of boat. Some boats are well known for having issues with the deck stepped mast support failing. In that case winding in more tension would cause more problems. So it is a reasonable question to ask why the rig seems to have suddenly slackened 3 years after renewal.

Exactly

 

[Daydream believer]

It might be 3 years old but one might ask what use the boat has had & what sort of winds the boat has been sailed in? It may be thet the boat has sat on a mooring & only used odd weekends & a couple of weeks holiday in benign conditions. On the other hand it may have been thrashed round the cans every week.
It may be that the deck beam is failing.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Fair enough, more details required. Still it’s most likely that some stretch has occurred, particularly if he set it up in 2021 and it hasn’t been touched since. It is normal, expected. And if that is the case, and the boat isn’t coming apart, then retensioning to the correct tension is the remedy. For me, I’d bloody well notice if my structure was distorting. There would surely be telltale cracks, even sounds, while sailing. Lets all hope it’s not that, far more of a problem than twiddling the rigging screws.

 

[Bobc]

Fair enough, more details required. Still it’s most likely that some stretch has occurred, particularly if he set it up in 2021 and it hasn’t been touched since. It is normal, expected. And if that is the case, and the boat isn’t coming apart, then retensioning to the correct tension is the remedy. For me, I’d bloody well notice if my structure was distorting. There would surely be telltale cracks, even sounds, while sailing. Lets all hope it’s not that, far more of a problem than twiddling the rigging screws.

You'd be surprised. I've seen a number of Beneteaus where the mast step has compressed, and a number of other boats where the boat has bent. It only takes a couple of mm of movement to slacken the rig.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

You'd be surprised. I've seen a number of Beneteaus where the mast step has compressed, and a number of other boats where the boat has bent. It only takes a couple of mm of movement to slacken the rig.

Built down to a price, if that is the case. Like the Lagoon catamaran bulkheads. It makes you realise why Contessa 32s and Halberg Rassey have such a following. Or indeed Dragonfly (Quorning boats) . I’d be pretty pissed at a structural problem of that magnitude on my 22 year old highly stressed multihull.

 

[Daydream believer]

On my first set of rigging I ran out of thread on the screws to tension. So when the mast was down I placed an 8mm packer under the mast step which also had additional loops to take extra mast turning blocks. I am now on my 3rd set of rigging in 20 years.

 

[vyv_cox]

I have used this method for many years. Requires no gauges or stretch techniques. As the page says, when I was loaned a Loos gauge I was pleased to find that the tension was pretty much spot on.
Setting up your masthead standing rigging

 

[IanCC]

Fair enough, more details required. Still it’s most likely that some stretch has occurred, particularly if he set it up in 2021 and it hasn’t been touched since. It is normal, expected. And if that is the case, and the boat isn’t coming apart, then retensioning to the correct tension is the remedy. For me, I’d bloody well notice if my structure was distorting. There would surely be telltale cracks, even sounds, while sailing. Lets all hope it’s not that, far more of a problem than twiddling the rigging screws.

Gosh. Loads of replies not flagged up by email, i thought the thread had died.

So, rig was set up by pro rigger with guage June '23. Nic' 31. So very solid and keel stepped mast.

I just enjoy sailing it as well as i can. So i like the rig set up as good as i can get it. It just seems to me it has slacked off a tad. Personally i think it is wire bedding in. 7mm cap, back and forestays on 30'. Pretty sure not over tensioned. I just thought there might be a known protocol for getting them right. I can't run to a guage.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Gosh. Loads of replies not flagged up by email, i thought the thread had died.

So, rig was set up by pro rigger with guage June '23. Nic' 31. So very solid and keel stepped mast.

I just enjoy sailing it as well as i can. So i like the rig set up as good as i can get it. It just seems to me it has slacked off a tad. Personally i think it is wire bedding in. 7mm cap, back and forestays on 30'. Pretty sure not over tensioned. I just thought there might be a known protocol for getting them right. I can't run to a guage.

To me at any rate, it seems that your wires have simply bedded in. Run through your procedures again, simples. Whilst it is possible for grievous things to happen to boat structures, generally they don’t. Whereas s/s wire always stretches from new.