Slack in Shrouds

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I've read that the shrouds on the 14.2 should be slightly loose, but the adjustments that I have leave it ridiculously loose, so that when the wake of a power boat hits in light wind, I'm concerned that the mast pumping might cause something to break. Next thing I plan to try is to shim the mast at the step, probably using polyetheylene cut from a milk container for the shim. Does anyone have a better way? Dick K.
 
shrouds

I have wondered about this myself. You cannot have the shrouds real tight and get the furler to wrok properly(if you have a furler). I have never seen a turnbuckel on any C14.2 so I guess you can only get the shrouds so tight even with a forstay. I am thinking this is normal to have a little looseness. It does wiggle in low wind in another boats wake. In higher winds the windward one gets tight as a bango string and the leeward is really loose. I sometimes grab the leeward shroud when In a drifter and the powerboats are going by. This takes up the slack and stops quite a bit of the wiggle. Are there any racers out there who know exactly how this should be?
 
shroud tightness

If you go to the tuning or rigging guide on the North Sails or Quantum sails web sight, it tells you exactly how to check it, and it is very loose. I have always wondered if this is only true for racing sails, as I have recreation sails with a furler and everyone that sails with me (very experienced---me not experienced) say that I need to tighten the shrouds. Does anybody have any wisdom on that? Does the rigging vary depending on what type of sails you have: racing or recreation? and if it does, how should us recreation sail guys have it rigged.

Back to your question, check out those web sights at the rigging guide and it will answer your question. My only thing is does that apply to us recreation guys too. Links to those web sights are on the C14.org home page. Post back if you learn anymore info on this topic.

Russell Lloyd
Memphis - 4796
 
Well here how i tune my rig: I have it loose. Real loose. The thinking behind having a loose rig is that it gets the head of the jib over the jib track. This opens the slot and makes the flow over the back side of the main work. In return you should be able to point higher. Going up wind you shouldn't have too much rig motion because of the mainsheet tention. Going down wind the loose rig will let the forstay get loose and the jib will work more like a spin on a big boat. At this time your rig may pump. I have the crew hold it still but some people may think your "ooching". So i took my bow line and riged up a mast puller for down wind to hold the mast. I made a simple purches and pulled it tight down wind and let it off upwind.
Now this is for racing boats. For boats with a furler i would think that a tighter rig would be beter. Most Furler systems need a tight forstay to work.

Hope this all helps e-mail or call me with more questions if you like,
Brian Janney
Quantum Sails San Diego
[email protected]
619-226-2422
 
Finer Adjustment of Shrouds

As I mentioned in my first message, my shrouds have been too loose. And the coarse adjustment of the pins in the shrouds were insufficient to make a correction. This past weekend I did remedy the problem to my satisfaction by placing shims under the base of the mast before stepping. With four thicknesses of polyetheylene cut from a standard one gallon milk carton, the shrouds came out "just right". They are still loose, but not so loose as to cause excessive mast pumping when in boat waves in light wind conditions.
 

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