Sailboat Standing Rigging Tension

Allow your yacht to sail.

Sailboat standing rigging tension.

There is a simple criterion for shroud tension. Running rigging is thought of more often with sailing as sailors use them to set trim and adjust the sails. That way if you stuff up you can at least return to this setting. No stainless steel cables in stock i have checked.

The initial rigging tension should be high enough that the leeward shrouds do not go slack when sailing close hauled in a reasonably brisk breeze. The proper value for your boat can be found by a few trial runs under sail. The second is the tricky one. Before you loosen any rigging mark its tension with a piece of tape or a cable tie on the thread above the turnbuckle.

I am finishing a homemade sailboat. To make backstay tension affect the headstay tension as much as possible tighten the lowers. The rig is now tuned for maximum headstay tension which is often difficult to achieve. Even new boats are not immune from problems they inevitably deform under the considerable loads of their rig and therefore will need to be re tuned after a period of use.

Release the tension in the backstay check that you are happy with fore and aft and sideways deflections. The standing rigging on the other hand is left standing there. Willing to order the 1 x 9 1 8 316 cable and do the swaging myself. Contrary to popular thought a slack rig is more punishing on a hull than a properly adjusted tight rig.

The loos tension gauges take the guesswork out of cable or rod tension adjustment. Here are some general guidelines for tuning your mast s standing rigging please see our blog on how to properly adjust a turnbuckle before you begin. Get the mast s standing upright in the boat 2. Once the rig is set up as described here tensioning the backstay whilst sailing will affect the curve in the upper part of the mast only as the area around the spreaders is fixed by the opposing forces of the shrouds.

To get the mast to bend more easily ease off the lowers. It is easy to think of standing rigging and running rigging as two different parts on a sailboat but in fact they both share the same goal. Once the correct tension is known the gauge can be used to maintain the value. They are especially designed for accurate repeatable tuning of a sailboat s standing rigging.

Planning on using eye and turnbuckle studs at the ends of the cables as i do have turnbuckles left from another boat. As always we recommend seeking the advice of a professional rigger for more specific tips and tricks regarding tuning your boat s rigging. Backstay tension will bend the mast and add some headstay tension.