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Thanks guys. I don't recall the shrouds being loose on the downwind, but I will certainly make note to specifically watch it next time.

My mast is straight from side to side, raked 4 degrees, bowed 2-inches, and tight enough I've seen no slack in lee shrouds. All four shrouds are 30 to 32 on the Loos gauge i.e. 160 to 200 pounds tension. I have a Johnson Pelican Hook in the backstay for quick release for pinning or unpinning the forestay. I crank in good, but not excessive, tension on the mast raiser and can pin the forestay with a foot in the strap around the drum. Then I reattach the backstay which has enough tension not to flop and not so much closing the pelican hook is difficult.

I followed the manual instructions, used mechanical aptitude, a plumb bob on a string and a cardboard template with degrees-of-rake lines. The shoud adjusters are not difficult but I'm sure Bill's RAT helps.

As it has been two years I don't remember if the forestay has any adjustment left. If it does, I may reduce rake a bit as the backstay pelican hook is a later addition and has some adjustment available. I recall that it was fully extended when I originally tuned the rig.

I finally saw a cutout picture of the CDI furler. Now its clear to me. If I tighten that toggle, that has the bolts in each end, I will tighten my sagging forstay, tighten my loose shrouds, raise the back end of my low boom and put a little bend in the top of my mast. Is this sort of right? And if it is, is that little tang that sticks up from the front of the boat {that the CDI hooks to} strong enough to stand all this tightening? If someone answers, thanks a lot. Jim Nolan

You got it. It's plenty strong enough. Make sure you pin it in place, both ends, once you have the tension correct. Otherwise it can unscrew and the whole thing will come down.

Thanks Chip, thats great news. Jim Nolan

Jack wrote:As it has been two years I don't remember if the forestay has any adjustment left. If it does, I may reduce rake a bit as the backstay pelican hook is a later addition and has some adjustment available. I recall that it was fully extended when I originally tuned the rig.

I'll bet you it is pretty close to all the way tightened down. Mine is tight all the way to the stops and it sure looks like I have 4 degrees of rake too...although I've not actually tried to measure it. Not quite sure how to do it in a slip and still make sure that you are measuring relative to the waterline. I also seem to have more than 2 inches of bend, even with a slack backstay..again, just eyeballing it.

I loosened up my shrouds a bit because my rake was too much. Now they are probably too loose for my liking so its down to whether I shorten the forestay or raise the attachment point. Seems like it would be more structurally sound to shorten the forestay (and upgrade to 5/32 cable while I'm at it).

Jim, in case you don't know ... make sure you keep the forestay from turning when you adjust the turnbuckle. If you let it wind up too much, you will start breaking strands. I use cotter pins in the turnbuckle cause I can bend them out of the way so they don't interfere with the furler. I think some people use ring dings, but I suppose they will have to be small for that same reason.

In the process of going through and inspecting EVERYTHING on our new-to-us boat, I pulled the pin on the furler drum and slid it up to check the turnbuckle. It wasn't tightened very much at all. After reading posts here where folks tightened it all the way and then the backstay didn't reach, I just tightened it to where each bolt had 1/2" left to go. We'll try that for starters next Spring.

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Moe

When I first set up my rig, the shrouds were loose. Per Duane Dunns suggestion, I checked the turnbuckle under the furler drum and found it backed out against the cotter pins.

I tightened the turnbuckle under the furler drum all the way and replaced the cotter pins with electric fence wire to prevent the turnbuckle from unwinding (feed the wire though the holes where the cotter pins were and then around the turnbuckle, twist off and tuck so it dosen't rub the drum).

I kept unpinning the furler- dropping it a bit to change the shroud adjustments - pull back up and re-pin the furler.. over and over until I had it set . It took a few hours doing it myself.

I leveled the deck under the mast and set a 4 foot level up to the mast. At 4 foot I have roughly 3 inches rake, which I believe is roughly 3.58 degrees and the mast has a 2 inch bow overall.

I used a Loos guage to verify the tension and have the upper shroud set to 340 and the lower set to 300.

It is a tug to pin the furler and the aft stay will not pin with the original brackets- maybe 2-3" too short. When I set up, I connect the aft stay last and it is loose.

If the shrouds are too loose, it causes excessive stress (banging) on the rigging during a jibe.

To all who submitted their input on the topic-thanks so much. I'm confident that I'll be able to get a decent rig next season!