Internal Mast Bracing - How tight should they be?

Had a "down" weekend this week where I couldn't take the boat out sailing, so I decided to do some maintenance in the boats & trailer. While cleaning out the inside of the hulls on my & my friend's AIs, I noticed that the internal bracing of one boat had a little bit of play to it, while the other boat did not. When I get back to working on them again tomorrow, I will be tightening it up at least enough to take the play out of it, but I'm just wondering how tight I should wrench it. If anybody has any guidance, please speak out.

Thanks,
- Jim L

""V" frame - Adjustment may be required to the internal "V" frame on some boats if the locking nuts are not tightened and the adjustment is not held in the proper position. Adjustment is made with the mast in place. The "V" frame must be adjusted to allow the retention spring clip to engage the mast ring. A small vertical gap (play) should be allowed. You would be able to pull up on the mast slightly before the retention clip contacts the mast ring. This allows the mast to rotate without the retention clip wearing on the mast ring." -From tech tips

I've not noticed any issues with the mast retention spring clip not engaging, so it's not that loose. But when I reach in through the forward hatch and grab the V frame, I can feel it move a little bit at the bottom. The other boat (both early 2007 models with many miles under their hull) doesn't have any such movement. The nuts are tight against the adjustment sleeve, so if the bracing has loosened up, I'm not sure how the nuts stayed tight. At any rate, I'll tighten it up at least enough to take the slop out of it. Good point though, about doing it with the mast in place. I guess it could be easy to mistakenly set it so that the mast isn't straight in one axis or the other. Oh well, such is boating. They always need something.

They say a boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into. I am continually amazed at how such a small hole in the water can hold so much money!

Happy Sailing,
- Jim L

Hey Jim,

Thanks for looking after the waterbug for me! I sure wish I had it over here in Japan. I have a great Lake and great winds but no sail.....

Glenn

_________________
When in doubt, let it out.
- Anonymous

By the way, it was your boat that had the loose bracing struts. One of the strut lock nuts was loose on mine, and the foot bolt was loose on both of them. I tightened them up (extended the bracing struts on yours to snug it up), but I just saw a posting from reconlon that gave a good description of how they should be set up. I'll be doing that to both boats today or tomorrow.

Hey, it's not like you actually have time to go out sailing, or anything like that. Anyway, have fun in Japan and I'll see ya when you get back. Only another month or so now, isn't it?

Happy Sailing,
- Jim L