stays too long-advice please?

[Guest]

Just got a boat. Stays are too slack. Bottle screws fully tacken up. Now, Norsemen terminals (on 4mm wire) Are they any good? Or... I have 1 forestay and two rear stays. The rear stays are slack. I think the forestay is tight enough believe it or not. If I want to be cheap about it, can I just put a horizontal piece of rope across the two rear stays, pulling them closer together?!
The side stays (from the spreaders) are slack a bit too, could I pull them together if the tightening rope was forward of the mast so it didn't interfere with the main sail? Or am I just off my rocker? 20 foot boat, family cruising. Thanks. When I say slack, that's not right, I mean they are not as pole rigid as some other boats. When I shake the mast, it feels pretty good, but if you climb aboard the boat and hang onto the mentioned stays, they 'give' a fair bit.

 

[Guest]

options

norseman or staylock (or however you spell it) are perfectly ok PROVIDED they are fitted with care, exactly per instructions, not easy to do with small sizes.

a pair of blocks around each backstay and a strop to pull them down are an accepted method of backstay tensioning.

but it sounds as though the whole lot may be tired. if you are dismasted the insurers wil almost certainly reject the claim so replacing the lot may be cheaper!

 

[Guest]

Wait a minute here.

If all the shrouds are equally loose and all the turnbuckles are at the limit, then it sounds to me like the mast is too short.

Slack them all off a couple of inches and add a solid block under the base of the mast to raise it a couple of inches, then re-tighten all the shrouds.

Don't raise the bridge, lower the water - or something like that?????

 

[Guest]

thank you

 

[Guest]

Re: Wait a minute here.

Raising the height of the mast by chocking it higher would help the adjustment to tension the stays, however you forget one thing. by so doing you also raise the height of the boom and if this is a class boat would put the boat out of class for racing purposes. However if the boat was only used for cruising it would not matter.
Regards
Bluebeard

 

[Guest]

Another thought, do the stays get slacker when you ease them off? If not, the boat is taking up the slack. Perhaps the cabin roof needs more internal support! Seriously, lightly built boats may bend under rigging tension - best to check it isn't the case here before spending anything on new rigging.

Or did a previous owner replace the rigging but measure it all wrong? If they are still contactable, ask them.

 

[Guest]

If it's mast head rigged it's not so critical anyway. I'd be more inclined to minimise lateral movement of the mast head.

 

[Guest]

it is in fact very easy to dissemble the norseman terminals and shorten each piece of rigging by the 2 inches or so that would be required, then reassemble and re rig. all you need is new cones of the appropriate size, and these are quite cheap.

however, there is something wrong here. is this the right rigging for your boat, and have you got it assembled in the right way? if so, is the mast step giving way ie if deck stepped, is the mast support sufficiently strong. rigging does not normally stretchto the degree where is cannot be sufficiently tightened, and you need to establishwhatis happening before you adjust the rigging length.
try your friendly local rigger or surveyor

 

[Guest]

It is masthead rigged. Why does that make it not critical? Why is it more important to stop sideways movement?
Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I've renewed and beefed up the forestay (it was supposed to be a bit shorter), but what with a new stem head fitting and new bottlescrews and toggels, things have messed up a bit.
Do you know where I can get new Norsemen cones?
Thanks.