onesea
Well-known member
This is true but most of us do.
Standing rigging tensioning
- Thread starter Dan Dare
- Start date
Boathook
Well-known member
I always release the tension on my headsail when not on board and normally do that when moored up for the night as well.
All part of a routine such as fitting the fraps, etc.
All part of a routine such as fitting the fraps, etc.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
@flaming That looks very interesting, output to NMEA looks possible with that. I almost wish I could benefit from one just for the fun of it. Just playing with it on the dock is probably worth a few places, for intimidation factor
But everything I sail has slack rigging. The only tension on the Dragonfly is via the runners, and as the lee shroud goes slack in anything over 12 knots or so…. The XOD doesn’t have tension at all, and as for a big old gaffer, on that, the only rule is to point the mast roughly at the sky, giving a fair amount of scope! I’d love to see it in action.
But everything I sail has slack rigging. The only tension on the Dragonfly is via the runners, and as the lee shroud goes slack in anything over 12 knots or so…. The XOD doesn’t have tension at all, and as for a big old gaffer, on that, the only rule is to point the mast roughly at the sky, giving a fair amount of scope! I’d love to see it in action.
geem
Well-known member
We have a friend sailing a Westerly Oceanlord across the Pacific at the moment. He had new rigging only a few months ago. A routine rig inspection whilst on passage revealed broken strands on the bottom of one of the aft lowers. He went up the mast to parallel some dyneema with the damaged stay. Whilst up the mast he noticed a broken strand on the other aft lower! They are sailing very conservatively with no mainsail. Now, another strand has broken.
So whats the cause? Bad wire? Bad hydraulic swages? Too much tension? Not enough tension? The rig was set up by a rigger.
They have another 1500nm to go
So whats the cause? Bad wire? Bad hydraulic swages? Too much tension? Not enough tension? The rig was set up by a rigger.
They have another 1500nm to go
flaming
Well-known member
We have the same friends… Long term crew for us when they’re in the uk.
geem
Well-known member
We met them in Bonaire. Nice couple.
Rhylsailer99
Active member
Oops I never knew this mine is always pulled tight , so I should let it go slack when not sailing when its all rolled up.What do you think that leaving it under tension does to the sail?
flaming
Well-known member
They are that!
Daydream believer
Well-known member
I ease mine before furling because a tight furl will tend to hold the tension in the sail ( partly due to friction in the foils) & also put weight on the bearings each end when furling.
By leaving under tension the effect would be to stretch the luff of the sail over time.
I tend to adjust tension when sailing to suit conditions. higher tension will move the flow forward which tends to move aft as the wind increases.
In light winds there is very little halyard tension required with my sails. But that is a product of the sail design for my boat. Others will vary.
Laser310
Well-known member
i sail on a boat that has these on forestay and backstay.
they work pretty well.
it certainly makes it easier to repeat desired settings, but i think that learning what settings are better requires a lot of sailing.., unless you are sailing in a popular OD class where they are known.
The numbers can be displayed at the mast, and they are logged, but usually there is a lot going on, and other variables at play, so learning from them isn't straight forward.
Practice days where you really focus on it would be a big help, but we don't get around to that.
geem
Well-known member
At the other end of the spectrum, I tune mine to keep the mast up
flaming
Well-known member
Yep, it's just data, it's what you do with the data that is important.
flaming
Well-known member
I can only think of one occasion where a boat's mast fell down and they still did well in the race....At the other end of the spectrum, I tune mine to keep the mast up
geem
Well-known member
Not a criticism of tuning for racing but more that I wouldn't know what to do.
We just tune to ensure the mast has a tiny bit of pre-bend. Not easy on mast that is like a telegraph pole, although it is tapered. We adjust to keep it in column. It basically set with 11 to 15% of tension depending on which wires.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
That is a very low tension setting. Do the leaward wires go slack upwind in a blow.
flaming
Well-known member
To be honest I'm on a very steep part of the learning curve with rig tune.
Geoff Wode
Active member
To OP:
Illustrated Sail and Rig Tuning by Ivar Dedekam is a useful book.
Illustrated Sail and Rig Tuning by Ivar Dedekam is a useful book.
geem
Well-known member
No. I left the caps without the split pins in so I could tension them on a beat to weather, but they didn't slacken. I think the stiff hull helps. The hull is foam core composite. 6mm outer grp skin, 25mm airex core, 6mm inner skin. The construction is far stiffer than a comparable hull of 12mm solid glass.
The rigging feels bad tight when you lean on it. 1/2" wires
Daydream believer
Well-known member
11% on my 8mm wires seems very slack, so on 12mm would be like the wife's washing line.
I bet your knickers look good on it when going upwind?
geem
Well-known member
No way. The rig is bar tight. With a my very large adjustable spanner, I really struggle to put any more turns on the bottlescrew. It's almost impossible.11% on my 8mm wires seems very slack, so on 12mm would be like the wife's washing line.
I bet your knickers look good on it when going upwind?
As I said, no slack in the leeward rig going up wind
It is possible that the measurement of load is not accurate, but we used the 2m rule method and measured the stretch with a digital vernier