Sailboat Standing Rigging Tension

That way if you stuff up you can at least return to this setting.

Sailboat standing rigging tension.

Contrary to popular thought a slack rig is more punishing on a hull than a properly adjusted tight rig. Once the rig is set up as described here tensioning the backstay whilst sailing will affect the curve in the upper part of the mast only as the area around the spreaders is fixed by the opposing forces of the shrouds. Before you loosen any rigging mark its tension with a piece of tape or a cable tie on the thread above the turnbuckle. There is a simple criterion for shroud tension.

These are for standing rigging. To make backstay tension affect the headstay tension as much as possible tighten the lowers. The loos tension gauges take the guesswork out of cable or rod tension adjustment. The proper value for your boat can be found by a few trial runs under sail.

I am finishing a homemade sailboat. Even new boats are not immune from problems they inevitably deform under the considerable loads of their rig and therefore will need to be re tuned after a period of use. Many yachts have poorly adjusted standing rigging that can impair performance and handling as well as threatening the security of the rig. Once the correct tension is known the gauge can be used to maintain the value.

Planning on using eye and turnbuckle studs at the ends of the cables as i do have turnbuckles left from another boat. To get the mast to bend more easily ease off the lowers. The steps to adjusting rigging are 1. As always we recommend seeking the advice of a professional rigger for more specific tips and tricks regarding tuning your boat s rigging.

No stainless steel cables in stock i have checked. The standing rigging on the other hand is left standing there. Running rigging is thought of more often with sailing as sailors use them to set trim and adjust the sails. The rig is now tuned for maximum headstay tension which is often difficult to achieve.

It is easy to think of standing rigging and running rigging as two different parts on a sailboat but in fact they both share the same goal. Backstay tension will bend the mast and add some headstay tension. Here are some general guidelines for tuning your mast s standing rigging please see our blog on how to properly adjust a turnbuckle before you begin. Willing to order the 1 x 9 1 8 316 cable and do the swaging myself.

They are especially designed for accurate repeatable tuning of a sailboat s standing rigging. Release the tension in the backstay check that you are happy with fore and aft and sideways deflections. The second is the tricky one.