Turnbuckle info for a 17' sailboat

[nickspacek]

Hi folks! I bought a used 17' Paceship last year and need to replace the turnbuckles on the stays. I'm just starting out sailing, and I'm not sure what size I need to replace them with. I've looked over the manuals on the paceship.org community site, but can't find the details.

I have seen weight/tension limits in turnbuckle manufacturer catalogs, is there a page with some general information about determining the (rough) amount of tension a sail configuration is going to generate?

Thanks a lot!
Nick Spacek

[Freddyman]

Usually the clevis pin size at the chainplate indicates what turnbuckle to use.

[nickspacek]

That's kind of simple thing that's very helpful to know! Thanks a lot!

I am interested to know though, how would I know based on the sail size, if I had no chainplate to go off of?

[BigZ]

Not exactly sure of the question. The turnbuckle size is determined by the thread size on your shrouds. If you've got 5/16 thread on the studs you have to get a 5/16 turnbuckle to fit. No other size will fit.

As far as determining wind load, take your sail area in square feet, multiply it by wind speed (in knots) squared, then multiply by 0.00431 to get entire sail load. Example, for a sail with 120 square feet in 15 knots of wind, the load would be 120 x 225 x 0.00431 = 116.37 lbs.

As far as tension, you want them tight enough so there is not too much slack on the leeward shrouds. There is a sticky somewhere on adjusting rig tension that should help.

[nickspacek]

My shrouds don't have a thread size, but perhaps it could be determined like the chain plate, since the shrouds terminate in an eye (so the turnbuckle style required is a jaw/jaw... I think).

[BigZ]

What are you using now? A lot of smaller boats don't use turnbuckles on the shrouds. They set a length and then use the forestay tension to pull everything together.
Why not just measure the size of the eye and go from there?

Here's link for something that might work on you shrouds:

Schaefer - Link Tang/ 3/8 in. (10mm) Pin/ 1 in. (25mm) Wide: Mauri Pro Sailing

[nickspacek]

I have two pieces of the old turnbuckles (why not just use them for the measurement you ask!), can't be re-used because they are bent. I feel a little stupid, because I couldn't figure out the diameter of those pieces to my satisfaction even after I tried them to one of those bolt sizing charts.

Thanks for the link tang idea and the other advice! Should be able to get sailing this Spring for sure!