standing rigging

[vvv]

I have a moody 29 that Passed its survey in april this year with a glowing report. I notice that when going to windward the leeward inner shroud becomes slack. The cap? shroud stays taut. The inner shrouds are attached to the mast with some kind of hook arrangement. the backstay is not adjustable The spreaders are not swept back as was described in the last issue of PBO.

Any advice/information gladly received

 

[BAtoo]

Like many boats I suspect your rigging is too slack. If any shroud is slack it allows the mast to move to leeward when sailing and will not allow your boat to sail/point properly. The lowers on a masthead rig stop the mast "panting" when going to wndward and keep the mast "in column". You will at best loose ability to point to windward and loose power/sail slower; at worst you put excessive strain on the other bits of the rig with increased risk of fatigue & failure. You will struggle to get your rig too tight - go and feel some good racing boat rigs......
There are varous gides around try this one: http://www.zsparsuk.com/mhsstune.htm

 

[BAtoo]

PS the backstay will have some adjustment somewhere even if it is only a bottle screw; its the normal way to adjust forestay tension.

 

[VicS]

When sailing to windward, say in a F3, the lee shrouds should just start to become slack at 15 to 20 derees of heel. If they are still not slack after 20 degrees of heel they are probably too tight and are overstressing the hull and chainplates.

Another place you will find good advice is the Selden web site where you will find this Hints and advice manual It explains how to set the tension usion the stretch of the wire without needing a tension guage. (I hope I've got the link right)

 

[William_H]

Reasonably slack leeward stays is normal. Except of course if it so slack as to allow hook attachment to disconnect and the middle of themast should be stable ie no panting. I reckon it is OK despite many who disagree. What is important is the straightness of the mast when sailed in medium to strong winds. Except that a gentle bend in the mast middle forward is desirable for reducing camber of the mainsail. This is much more so in a fractionnal rig. So I don't like the idea of high long term tension on the rig and hull especially a wooden boat. olewill

 

[Rick]

Quite usual for rig to be quite slack to leeward - some 'softly' set race boats use shockcord to keep tensiooon on leeward shrouds to stop the T-Balls (the hooks you talk of) coming undone.

It's a huge ask to expect your hull to maintain it's shape given the loads the rig puts on here, and given that typically there is a huge hole (doorlike) in the mast bulkhead that might otherwise keep her more rigid.

I'd either tune the rig, or if you don't have the skills (yet) pay a rigger to check the tune for you, and learn from her/him how to keep it in tune for your sailing conditions. There are some excellent guides available, like the one VicS posted. If you want to get more keen, get a copy of Brion Toss "The Riggers Apprentice".

 

[Twister_Ken]

Don't like slack rigging, it means in your case that the middle of the mast is falling away to leeward when hard on the wind - not good, mast should be kept in column - straight up and down in the port-starboard sense. Nip up the slack shroud by a turn, tack, do the same on the other side, tack. Is the leeward shroud still slack? If so repeat process until you are one turn past slack. Look up the mast from the gooseneck on each tack - mast should be straight, with nothing falling away to leeward or hooking up to windward.


PS - different rules apply on bendy racing rigs and three or four panel rigs, but on a simple cruising rig, keep the mast straight athwartships.