Sailboat Standing Rigging Tension

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.

Sailboat standing rigging tension.

Many yachts have poorly adjusted standing rigging that can impair performance and handling as well as threatening the security of the rig. 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. There is a simple criterion for shroud tension.

These are for standing rigging. Get the mast s standing upright in the boat 2. 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.

To make backstay tension affect the headstay tension as much as possible tighten the lowers. 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. The second is the tricky one. No stainless steel cables in stock i have checked.

To get the mast to bend more easily ease off the lowers. Before you loosen any rigging mark its tension with a piece of tape or a cable tie on the thread above the turnbuckle. Contrary to popular thought a slack rig is more punishing on a hull than a properly adjusted tight rig. That way if you stuff up you can at least return to this setting.

The steps to adjusting rigging are 1. The proper value for your boat can be found by a few trial runs under sail. Release the tension in the backstay check that you are happy with fore and aft and sideways deflections. The rig is now tuned for maximum headstay tension which is often difficult to achieve.

The initial rigging tension should be high enough that the leeward shrouds do not go slack when sailing close hauled in a reasonably brisk breeze. The standing rigging on the other hand is left standing there. They are especially designed for accurate repeatable tuning of a sailboat s standing rigging. Allow your yacht to sail.

Once the correct tension is known the gauge can be used to maintain the value. I am finishing a homemade sailboat. Planning on using eye and turnbuckle studs at the ends of the cables as i do have turnbuckles left from another boat.