How to determine foresail hound height? ANSWER

[bscott]

with mast dimension question. To get a 1-2* mast rake I have run out of adjustment on my new 5/32 forestay which needs to be shortened by about 2.0". I want to keep the forestay the same length as it matches up perfect with the Schaefer Snapfurl and my C2000 jib.

If anyone knows how far I need to move up the foresail hound to take up the slack, please give a shout. Thanks for the help,

Bob

[tangentair]

I could do the trig for you if you had posted all the dimensions, but if you need a 2 inch increase along the hypotenus (sp) over a distance that great, I would move it 5 or 6 inches up and then you would have pleanty of room (about 2- 3 inches) for adjustment at the bottom of the forestay that could be handled with any number of techniques.

[bscott]

Thanks tangentair, you gave me a good place to start. I taped the hound up 6" (per your estimate) with heavy duty cloth tape and raised the mast with the mast raiser, no upper shrouds attached, and set the rake a 0* with the forestay set in the middle. I still needed to raise the hound about an inch and took a guess at 8", drilled the holes and reset the mast with upper shrouds loosely attached.

I set the forestay on the Winderra cam and adjusted the turnbuckle alternately with the upper shrouds (I have turnbuckle adjusters) till I got 300 on the Loos and still able to pin the forestay at 1* rake using the mast riser with the turnbuckle mid-way. I will probably set the rake a 0* sans sails and expect to be at 1-2* once the sails are raised. The rake was set with the boat on the trailer with a level waterline.

ANSWER: 4:1 ratio.

As a side note, I installed shroud adjusters on my baby stays so I can ease the stays and allow the mast to rotate freely while under sail.

Hope this helps anyone thinking about raising the forestay for better furler clearence or to install an adjuster.

Bob

[puggsy]

I did mine, but not very mathematically exact. I just guessed. I left the standard hound in place carrying the side shrouds and fitted another extra , home made, hound 42 centimetres higher. Then when i stood the mast back up, with the side shrouds again tight, I made up the gap between the bottom of the furler drum and the bow fitting with a hifield lever connected to a turnbuckle.
These days you can get both in various lengths. When the correct adjustment for the turnbuckle is found, [ of course with the hifield closed] LOCK the adjustment. Mine caused problems for a while because the turning action of the furler drum actually UNDID one end of the turnbuckle.
My solution was to fix the centre, threaded part of the turnbuckle to the pulpit rail. I used cordage, which can be undone when the forestay is released for mast lowering. Another answer would be to weld the locking nuts [ SS welding ] after adjustment, to the adjusting body. JUST SO LONG AS IT DOES NOT UNDO ITSELF. Puggsy 06

[delevi]

Just throwing this out there.... Wouldn't it be easier just to shorten the forestay? since the rig was designed to have the forestay and shrouds attach at the same point, I would personally be a bit nervous altering that setup.

Leon

[bscott]

I know that a few Mac guys have raised their hounds to accomodate various types of levers so I am not too worried about raising it to accomodate the 5/32 forestay and the Snapfurl which has a greater drum diameter than the Crusing Design--this also gives me the necessary clearence for the furler swivel and jib block.

I enlisted the help of a friend that designed/built a racing cat that had a 36' deep draft carbon fiber rotating mast and we did our math and agreed that the mast was safe and had good bend qualities.

This prove the old addege, "if you want something done right, do it yourself". "Measure twice, drill once"

Bob

[delevi]

Leave it to the pro riggers, engineers & mathematicians. Good luck. Looking forward to hear about sailing performance.

L.

[Frank C]

I raised the forestay hound by 8 inches to fit a QR lever beneath the drum.

The mast hound doesn't concern me. But now the QR lever takes enormous twisting forces from the furler's action. I'll prolly upgrade that QR from the $40 version to the $80 version, made of heavier material. That probably also changes the pin sizing, which will cause yet another backyard work-around.

C'est la Mac-vie!

[bscott]

Frank, I ordered the 1,500# shroud QD from WM but they sent me the 500# unit. I intended to use them on the upper shrouds. I didn't open the package for about a month and lost the receipt and could not return them. So I installed them on my baby stays and they really work great in relationship to the rotating mast.

I guess my next concern is drilling another set of holes in the mast to raise the spreader hound 4". I just spoke to the dealer who did the mast exchange and he said "cut the shrouds--no more holes".

The dash and splash was scheduled for Memorial Day but the lake is too muddy and it is snowing as I post this.

Bob

[Frank C]

He's right. The mast is most fragile, just by design-loads, right at that mid-point ~12 feet. I wouldn't want any extra holes right there. You can try to cut your lowers and re-swage them shorter, but I wouldn't bother. It's not easy, especially when your change is less than 4 inches. Instead, check them both on the new mast and tape-wrap them exactly where you'd want the new eye. Then send one of them to WM (or any rigger) and ask for a new pair at that length.

Just a SWAG .... about $75 for the pair.