Rigging

TURNBUCKLES



The turnbuckles were installed in order to have a rig that could be finely adjusted rather than the large increments dictated by the original shroud pin anchor bracket. My view is that a slack rig is harder on the rigging than a properly tuned rig because of shock loading. The upper shrouds were tensioned to 240 lbs., the lower shrouds 120 lbs., the forestay to 160 lbs and the diamond stays to 110 lbs using a Loos tension guage. One of the changes I found necessary to make to the rig was to improve the anchorages for the upper shrouds on the mast. The bolt hole in the mast was showing signs of stress in that it was being elongated from the stress of the shrouds. I enlarged the bolt hole to accept a stainless tube which I then fibreglassed in position. Since the modification, no further deterioration of the anchorage has been observed.





SHROUD EXIT COVERS


Aluminum plates were made up to cover the shroud exit holes in the side deck. The covers are a sliding fit on the shrouds and can pivot on the shroud to cover the exit holes. These covers are strictly cosmetic.














FORESTAY LOWER ANCHOR


The luff (center) of our split jib is connected to the sister clip shown in the photo which allows us to let the bottom of the jib billow out when running. It also allows us to pull jib off to one side to capture more of the wind when running and using it as a spinnaker, with a luff and leach.











BOOM VANG

I consider a boom vang to be an essential aid to sailing well downwind. It gives you extra sail area when running and may inhibit an unintentional jibe.



ADJUSTABLE GOOSENECK AND CUNNINGHAM


An adjustable gooseneck allows you to have a tight luff (essential in strong winds). You can pull up the mainsail with the halyard, as hard as you can but you are always able to tighten the luff even more by pulling the gooseneck down. The same principle applies to the mainsail outhaul which you want to be able to tighten in strong winds. LIGHT WINDS =LOW TENSION ON GOOSENECK AND OUTHAUL, STRONG WINDS= HIGH TENSION ON GOOSENECK AND OUTHAUL

I do not consider a Cunningham control necessary if you have an adjustable gooseneck.