Mast Rake question

I bought a 1981 Hobie 18 last summer. It was not beautiful, but it is sound. I sailed it a bit, need to sail it more and have just spent a lot of time fixing up some details that I noticed as I got to learn the boat some more.

Some of the work I've done is splice up a new set of shrouds from 5/32 Amsteel. Using the Hobie wire guide I spliced the shrouds at 20'5" which aligned with the wires I have. I measured the adjusters at 5" and connect the shrouds to the chain plate with a long D shackle and a loop of spliced Amsteel that make total length of 5". To make length adjustments I'm using a lashing to give me 4" of adjustment, about the same the adjuster.

I set up the rig yesterday and measured the rake. Using the trap wire method to measure the bow tang pin vs the aft hull/deck joint I landed at 11" back from the cross beam. I had read in this forum that I should be 4 to 6 inches back. But, measuring from the bow tang to 48" up the mast I got 106" which is right in the middle of 105 to 107 I read was the recommendation. I don't think I could have any tension if the rig went back to 107".

I realize that rake is set by the headstay, but as the rake was set that is the maximum I could work with without shortening my shrouds. But the adjuster tang at the headstay was set on the third hole down with another 5 or 7 more to go. So it seems like my headstay is maybe long, or is supposed to have a lot of extra length beyond the normal setting, or my shrouds are too long and I need to shorten them up.

Where does the mast rake belong, approximately? Which measurement method is a more accurate assessment of rake? How much of the headstay adjuster tang is normal to have unused?

What's the word on mast rake on a Hobie 18.

Thanks for any help
Geoff

Ok - I was curious about this so for your reference I measured my shourds at 20'7" pin hole to pin hole. When I do the trap wire method I land on the aft cross bar and am about the 4th hole down on the forestay adjuster plate and this places me with good tension about the 4th hole down on the sidestay plates.

As an aside next time out I am going to adjust to land the 4-6 inches behind the cross bar.

To double check your comments are you landing 11" aft of the rear cross bar on the outer edge of the deck near the lip?

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1984 Hobie 18

I'll have to check my headstay length. It was new when I bought the boat, so I assumed it was correct, but I have questions about the previous owner's knowledge. did he buy the right stay.

As for my trap wires, I spliced up a set of new wires using 3.8mm spiderline but I couldn't splice at the top thimble. Instead I used sewn and served method to bind the two lines down about 5 or six inches from the thimble. I didn't closely analyze the angles, but I expect it would make the distance shorter, not longer.

When I measured 11 inches it was to the rounding of the flange at the hull deck joint. About the middle radius of the bend. But, if you measured 20'7" hole to hole I shouldn't need to shorten my shrouds. I hit 20'5" very well and set them with my lawn tractor. One side was about 1/4" longer than the other, but easily compensated for in the adjustment range.

Thanks for you r help and time
Geoff

Okay, here are the measurements for my shrouds, and these lengths are from the end of the loop at the mast tang to the center of the attaching pin.
Shrouds each 20'6"

Upper Forestay 22" (end of loop to end of loop)
Lower Forestay 17'6" (from end of the swivel where the upper forestay attaches to center of pin that attaches the adjustor.

Keep in mind my shrouds and forestay might have stretched a bit as they are getting a little old (5-6yrs) and need to be replaced soon.

Hope this helps.

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

I measured my headstay and it came out to 17'3". The wire guide calls for 17'2". If you've got a measurement of 17'6" than I should be able to deal with that extra inch. It sounds like my mast rake should be within normal range and the shrouds don't need to be made any shorter.

Thanks for the info and the help everyone. Now I just need to put it to the real and proper test.

Geoff