Shroud Slack

I have a question about how tight my shrouds should be. I have an 81 H16. I've only had my 16 for a few months and have never adjusted them from where the original owner had them. I know that I need to swap out the standing rigging, and intend to do that next spring (tomorrow will probably be the end of the season for me ). After I step the mast and get the forestay in place the side shrouds seem to be pretty loose. Yesterday when I went out solo I attempted to tighten them but gave up when the thought of my mast crashing on the 60K dollar motor boat next to me popped into my mind.

Sailing yesterday was gorgeous, but I noticed that when I was flying a hull the leeward shroud would go slack. Like enough that if I could adjust it at that moment the shroud would go past the bottom hole of the adjuster. It makes sense to me that it would go slack a bit, but I was just wondering if this is normal, or if it should make me nervous or not. The thought of dismasting scares the crap out of me.

Any help would be awesome.

The leward shroud should be slack. Enough that it will swing around somewhat. It sounds like you can tighten each shroud a hole or two. The best way to do this is to have someone hold the trap wire on the side you want to tighten, then make your changes. Just make sure you leave enough slack so the mast can rotate.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Slack?

The jib halyard controls rig tension on a 16 (unless rigged with a furling jib). Tension the jib halyard till the shrouds and forestay luff wire (inside the jib) are tight. It should take some effort to get it tight enough and be ridgid. When sailing, the lee shroud will go somewhat slack due to the wind loads on the weather side and the mast bend.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Hobie Nick's right. A safe way to tighen the shrouds is to step the mast with the shrouds in the top hole of the shroud adjusters. After the mast is stepped and secured, get someone to help hold the mast in place by standing on the tramp with moderate weight pushing the mast forward while you lower each shroud a hole or two, or until you feel comfortable with the tension. Since the mast must be allowed to rotate freely there must also be some slack in the leeward shroud. This is normal operating procedure.

Slack?

Once again... we are talking a standard Hobie 16 right?

Rig tension is done with the Jib halyard.

You can adjust the shrouds when the mast is up as described above, but the halyard tension sets the rig tension. When the boat is static on the beach, the rig should be taut with NO slack in the shrouds. Actually they should be quite ridgid. There is no problem with mast rotation. If you over tension the halyard, you can pre bend the mast and cause some rotation issues while on the beach. When sailing, yes, the lee shroud will be a little slack.

A loose rig will cause the jib luff to bow to leeward for reduced upwind performance.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Yeah, Matt caught me . I've been sailing the 18 recently and forgot that little detail. The forestay is only a rigging tool and safety "net". You set your rake with the shrouds and tension the rig with the jib halyard.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

An easy way to adjust your shrouds without woorying about the mast ending up on the next boat (or worse your car!) is to run the traveller all the way out to the side of the shroud to be adjusted, hoist your sail, sheet all the way in and voila, the shroud will slacken and you're in business. This works on the 14 at least.

As for shroud slack, on the 14 if trapezing you want enough slack on the leeward shroud to be able to grab the shroud in your fist and rotate your fist 45 degrees.

Hope this helps!

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Hobie14 Turbo