Shroud adjustment

How much slack should there be in my shrouds when I just have my mast raised on level ground? The boat is only used for recreational sailing.

The slack in the shrouds is not important. Once the jib is raised and the jib halyard tight the shrouds will be tight. The question is how far is the mast raked back.

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Howard

Newb followup question - What would be more conservative setup - mast raked farther forward or mast raked more back toward the stern?

tdf - Just one more thing...When you step the mast and pass the forestay to your crew, you don't want it to be too difficult for him/her to attach the forestay to the 10 hole adjuster/bridle wires.

When I raise the mast, I tie a line about 7' long to the jib halyard and to the shackle holding the bridle wires together. With the mast up, I lean into it, uncleat the jib halyard, and pull the line tight. I re-cleat which not only holds the mast up but holds the bridle up, making it very easy to connect the forestay to the adjuster.

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Howard

It's not really a matter of one setting being more conservative than the other. It's a matter of getting it right so the boat is balanced for the conditions. Generally speaking (and the H16 racers can certainly chime in), you stand the mast a little more upright in light conditions and rake back for stronger conditions. Mast rake is going to be significantly greater for modern boats than it was for boats built in the 70's and 80's. So you really have to have a mast step, sails, shrouds, sheeting system, etc that allow you to rake back farther. Your rudder system also needs to be adjusted so it is balanced with more rake. A lot of it depends on how old your boat is and how much rake it was initially designed for.

sm

That's how I raise the mast, I mostly sail alone. I tie a rope to the forestay and thru the bridle and back to me on the tramp. When I step the mast I pull on the rope which pulls the forestay and I cleat it off on the bottom of the mast. Then hop down and connect the forestay to the adjuster. I am connecting the forestay to the top hole in my adjuster. I dont think I could get it any lower on the adjuster unless I had someone pushing on the mast from the tramp. Once the forestay is connected the shrouds seem a little slack. Its a 81 model boat.

Once I have my sails up and on the water if I turn into the wind (so there will be minimal wind pressure on either shroud) both shrouds still seem slack.

I have seen people use a second adjuster connected to the top of the first one. They connect the forestay to the middle hole of the top adjuster and then, after tightening the jib, they connect a bungee to the top of the second connector. They pull the bungee and connect it to the bridle so the top adjuster pivots, pulling the forestay to take out the slack. It is done to keep the forestay from rubbing on the sail. Imagine how slack the shrouds are with this setup until the jib is up.

If your shrouds are loose after the jib is up, I would guess you are not tightening the jib halyard enough. Do you get the mechanical advantage by looping the halyard around the cheek block and through block on the jib halyard? That should allow you to to tension the halyard enough.

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Howard

When stepping the mast, I keep the shrouds near the top of the shroud adjusters. This makes it easier to pin the forestay. Once the forestay is attached, I grab the trap handle and tighten the shrouds. You can get quite a bit of slack out of the system that way. Then when you tighten the Jib, you take the rest of the slack out of the system.

If both shrouds go slack going head into the wind, then I would assume that the Jib isn't tight enough.

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

I use the double adjuster method mentioned by hrtsailor and love it. I also raise my mast solo from time to time. Before I added the second adjuster I would place the shrouds in the top hole of each side adjuster and attach the forestay. That would give me plent of slack. Then, before raising the jib I would put on my trap harness on and attach myself to the wire while standing by the side of the boat. I would use my weight to pull on the mast and lower the connection points of the shrouds.

With the second adjuster I can set the shrouds first in their lowest position (I have a mid-80's H16) and still have plenty of slack to attach the forestay.

I also recommend raising the jib first and raising the mainsail only after the jib is fully tightened. I also lean my boat downwards on the wheels when attaching the jib most of the time. Lastly, make sure you are using the block on the jib halyard to get a 3:1 purchase to assist with getting the jib tight.

Without a tight jib you will notice that you have a hard time sailing to weather, especially in big wind. A loose jib will make you fall off the wind to get pressure on the sail and then you will notice the boat heeling over too quickly and not accelerating.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Sounds like my jib could be the issue. The front of the jib falls off the wind often and Im probably just not tightening it enough. I dont use the block cause the sheave is broke so I try to gain some mechanical advantage by using a cleat but I will try again next week and get the jib as tight as I can. I appreciate everyones suggestions. Im a newb to sailing.

My sheave is busted on my cheek block and halyard also. I still use it as is and works fine.
Give it a go.