Correct way to tighten the forestay

[live2shift]

I am trying to tune my 26M, and have never done this before. It is going to be on a mooring for several months so I want it tight to avoid any issues. I have a loos gauge and in order to get more than 5% (that I have now) of the rigging capacity on the forestay and shrouds I would have to really have to seriously increase the tension on the forestay. They all appear pretty tight and if I whack the shrouds them they make a decent low tone, but are not tight enough according to loos instructions. I am using the mast raising system to pull on the mast, and then using my body weight to get the final oofm to hook the forestay on the bow. If I tuened the turnbuckle enough to increase the tension more when it was unhooked, I wouldn't be able to attach it manually with my strength and body weight.

I could sure use suggestions as to what is the right way to do this???

thanks Jeff

[Kelly Hanson East]

I found the same thing on my , namely that with good shroud tension it is hard to pin the forestay alone (no mast raising system)

I installed a forestay lever as a workaround.

[Boblee]

Over tension the forestay till you can easily get the pin in. As for the rig tension will leave that to others to comment on and will also be interested to hear the comments as it seems a bit of a grey area especially for permanently moored boats.

[live2shift]

Anyone with an M have experience as to how many actual lbs of tension thy have gone with? Did you simply yank the forestay pin into position?

[Frank C]

Search on the term [footloop]. You'll see a half-dozen prior threads on your topic, including specific discussion of shroud tension for the 26M. You'll see lots more discussion there than waiting a week for comments to aggregate here.

An archives review provides you w/background, after which you'll have more specific questions to post here.

[live2shift]

Thanks Frank, the foot loop looks like a simple and effective approach. I did lot of searching older posts but missed this little gem, thanks again.

[delevi]

Jeff,

I replied to your PM. Jsut to clarify a few things... Your forestay tension should be set to the desired mast rake. Minimal to zero rake works best on the based on my experience (take up most of the adjustment in the turnbuckle i.e. shortening the forstay length), though some prefer to have some rake. You achive this by adjusting the forestay turnbuckle to the desired setting with the shrouds loose or with the rig slacked off with the mast raising gear. Then you proceed to set shroud tension to the desired loads. Don't be overly concerned with what the Loos gauge shows on the forestay. You can't do much to control it since it's a product of your rake setting and shroud tension. Sounds like you may have done this in reverse order. Hope this helps.

Leon

[Boblee]

Delevi
I had set my mast rake to about 1- 0 deg by adjusting the turnbuckle right in but found when the ballast was added this gave me a few degrees forward "rake" and a lee helm, have now moved it to about two thirds adjustment which according to my calculations of where the boat sits on water it should be about 2 deg? rake ballast in.
Will rarely be sailing in heavy weather, do you think this is better?
Sorry for butting in Jeff but the answer could be relevant for both of us.

[delevi]

Sounds like you have it right Bob. If you don't sail in heavy weather, you want some rake. It will actually help you point a bit higher. The reason to reduce/remove rake is to reduce weather helm, which you only get in heavy air. My mast actually tilts a bit forward, though much of it is mast bend. When the mainsail is under load, it pulls the mast back more, so I think the negative rake self corrects. My boat doesn't get lee helm. The best answer I can give you is sail with it and see how you like it and adjust if needed. That said, I found that having the turnbuckle half way or more (longer forestay) results in a loose forestay. To make it tight, the upper shrouds would have to be over 700 lbs... way too much. It's a bit of a pull & push, tug-of-war since one wire affects every other wire. I'm almost embarrased to say that I spent an unhealthy amount of time testing different rig settings. My current settings have given the best overall performance, so I am sticking with them.

Cheers,
Leon

[Boblee]

It was interesting and backs up what you say that after adjusting the forestay probably 2" the shrouds were still reasonably tight especially the uppers but the forestay is now really slack.
I was fairly happy with how it was set up but as I am only allowed to sail in light winds 10-15 knots it was always a chore trying to point it near the wind.
Have the autopilot set up now so may be able to do some single handing also have ordered a Loos gauge so will have a fiddle while away this year.