miguel esteban wrote:
Just purchased an '82 H16 in good shape, did some hull repairs, etc. and am now looking go get out on the lake.
Stepped the mast yesterday in the driveway with a couple of buddies and we were freaked out by the slack in the shrouds even when set on their lowest setting. I know from reading a bunch of posts that tension, rake, etc. is controlled by the jib halyard and when we did tension the jib halyard, things firmed up. BUT there's so much play in the shrouds when the boat is just resting on the trailer that I'm worried about the mast swaying back and forth or jumping out of the base when I'm simply backing up the trailer down the boat ramp. I believe I could lift the mast straight up out of the base if I chose to.
I noticed this comment in a post from mmiller:
<<When the boat is static on the beach, the rig should be taut with NO slack in the shrouds.>>
So, am I correct in saying that the shrouds should be taut, but not tensioned when on the trailer with no sails up?
Sorry if I'm posting a question that's been answered a million times, but as someone who has sailed mostly keeled monohulls with stays and shrouds tensioned like piano wires, this is a bit confusing.
miguel
I think that comment by mmiller must have been refering to when the sails are up and the jib halyard is tensioned. I don't think you want any tension in the forestay.
If you have a tremendous amount of slack when rigged sans sails, could it be possible that you have an updated forestay but older shrouds? The newer generation rigging is designed to give you more aft mast rake which means that the shrouds are shorter and the forestay is longer. If you replace your shrouds, you may find your problem solved.