easier pin'ing of the furler forestay (26X)

[Sumner]

...On the if remove the backstays chainplate or modify its length so that the johnson lever makes up the same length in its closed position, this is not going to effect the final tension. Its a 'like for like'

Not sure I understand the response, sorry. The forestay is tensioned against the shrouds not the backstay. At least that is the way it is on our S. I can loosen the backstay up as much as I want and it won't effect the forestay tension. I feel, maybe wrongly, that if you try and tension the forestay and pin it with that tension with the backstay you would really have to crank down on the backstay and would bend the mast (not permanently) some as the forestay doesn't go to the top of the mast like the backstay does. If our boats weren't fractional rigged and the forestay and backstay went to the same place on the mast I could see it being different.

When we had hankon sails we use to raise the mast with the mast raising gear and then pin the forestay, but also tighten the forestay afterwards with the turnbuckle. Still later when I checked the tension with a loos gauge it wasn't all that high. With a furler it is hard, and I doubt many do it, to turn the turnbuckle to get more tension once you have it pinned. With the Johnson lever you can adjust the tension once like that and then afterwards just use the lever and you are tensioned back to that point again.

Saying all of that most people that have furlers just pull it down there and pin it and don't worry about how much tension they have and they are having no problems, so if that works for you go for it,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

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[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Sumner, if you are using the mast raising gear, you should be able to get tremendous tension on the rig so that you don't have to tighten the turnbuckle afterwards. Maybe I crank it harder than you guys, but I estimate 5-600 lbs of tension on the shrouds when I pin the forestay, then I let off on the mast raiser and the tension drops a couple hundred pounds and stays around 3-400 iirc. This is good tension on the rig which even with heavy furler with 150 and Sunbrella cover still has no sag in the forestay and the downwind shrouds only get a little loose on a reach, not slack at all.

[seahouse]

Dimitri –I agree- I think this is the practical limit to the rig tension that you can expect to get when you are repeatedly and regularly launch/retrieving.

That is -use the mast raiser to apply tension to just before its failure, so you can install the forestay pin, and declare victory at that tension. By conventional wisdom it’s not really quite enough, but, as Sumner points out, it doesn’t appear to be causing problems in the field, and getting the tension up higher where it might need to be involves considerably more pain, or additional modding, which is an option that’s not for everyone.

It is the point at which you can stop in order to get the best return on your time spent rigging.

I think it’s also a fair guideline for someone wondering what the proper tension should be – go as tight as you will without causing failure in the mast raiser. When the raiser starts to distort – stop - you’ve reached that point. Make no mistake - going past that point has its (possibly serious) consequences. Has anyone damaged their mast raiser by overstressing it?

I think it’s safe to say you can’t overtension the rig using the mast raiser. (Based on my observations of the “M” mast raiser).

Rig tension is one area that Macs are somewhat unique in. Conventional texts don’t really apply to it.

So that’s a topic that Mastreb could include in the Mac- dedicated book he’s going to write. Right?

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Even though the tension backs off some after pinnning the forestay and releasing the tension on the mast raiser (and I use the X version myself), I think this is still far tighter than you could ever get it just by raising the mast by hand. And I've tried a lot of tricks (like attaching a loop of line at the furler that you can put your foot into to push down as you pin the forestay) and it has never gotten near as tight as using the mast raiser. But yea, I've seen a lot of folks on a lot of different types of boats running with very sloppy loose rigging and their rigs don't come down or anything...but some might say that pointing could be reduced a bit...

[DaveC426913]

I'm tempted to add a Johnson lever but I am very leery of moving the hound to accommodate it. I don't think I'd trust my hand-made riveting job for such a critical feature.

[BOAT]

The mast raising system is great! I have raised the mast many times now all by myself. Just like the skipper said in the previous post, all you do is raise the mast all the way up, and then crank the mast raising winch thing about another good three turns to make it real tight and that’s it! The furler pins right in to the bow!

It’s great!

[Sumner]

I'm tempted to add a Johnson lever but I am very leery of moving the hound to accommodate it. I don't think I'd trust my hand-made riveting job for such a critical feature.

It isn't riveted on (at least not on our S). There is a thru bolt, so it is as simple as drilling a hole on each side of the mast for the bolt,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[mastreb]

So that’s a topic that Mastreb could include in the Mac- dedicated book he’s going to write. Right?

Hey now, I've only committed to a long forum post...

[Catigale]

DaveC426913 wrote:
I'm tempted to add a Johnson lever but I am very leery of moving the hound to accommodate it. I don't think I'd trust my hand-made riveting job for such a critical feature.


It isn't riveted on (at least not on our S). There is a thru bolt, so it is as simple as drilling a hole on each side of the mast for the bolt,

Through bolted on the too. Measure twice, drill once. Use long enough drill to drill through in one motion so that holes will auto align. Hole position isn't critical....1/2 inch tolerance fine.

[Tomfoolery]

Wrap a piece of paper around the mast with the edge at the height (mast laying down) you want the holes for the hound. Make the edges line up with each other where the paper overlaps. This will put the two holes, one at each side, at the same distance ('height') along the length of the mast. Draw a pencil line on each side along the paper edge.

Then measure from the sail slot down each side along the line (towards the bow, if it were in its working position) the same distance from the center, or the side of the slot, or some repeatable location, to the 'middle' of the mast, or the same distance as the existing holes. You can even bend a hook into the end of a copper wire or coat hangar to engage the slot, with a mark where the hole goes, This will locate them fore/aft the same distance so your hound isn't crooked side to side.

But as Catigale said, location isn't precise by necessity. It just bothers me when I know something like that is crooked, even if I'm the only one who knows.