After replacing most of the standing rigging and doing a refit, I am looking at getting this mast to rotate easier. I have allways rigged the mast with tight , therefore the leeward sidestay is not firm (but not loose) when sailing .
One problem seems to be though, with the rig this tight, the mast does not rotate easily and has to be pushed around manually - particularly in anything under 10 kn of breeze
. There is also a thin nylon bush in the mast step, which seems to be helping. Without this, it was binding up and would "bang" into position when sheeting in.
How much would loosening the rig help? Is it the right thing to do? Has anyone lost a mast by being "too loose?) I am conserned that it would apply unneeded play / movement in the step and potentially sheer the rivits holding it to the cross beam.
How loose is everyone elses? On one of my other racing boats, a cat rigged racing scow, the rig is so loose that the leward chainplate is at 60 degrees when sailing.
! The over rotating mast is held in position by a 1/4" needle about 2 " long, so cant jump around ( or out for that matter )
Thanks for your help guys, Chris
