Which Book On Rigging?

[SEMIJim]

Coming back from sailing, Saturday, I noticed the starboard aft shroud was loose. As in: Very loose. As in: Floppy loose. Now the PO had tied small line through the turnbuckles, and the line on that one was intact. Nor was it twisted about the turnbuckles. So it couldn't have been the turnbuckle turning. The PO had noted, on our way up three weeks ago, that the shrouds didn't seem to be as tight as they should be. And, at one point, he went forward and adjusted the port shrouds when we were on a starboard tack. I don't recall seeing him do the same on the starboard side and, quite frankly, kept forgetting to look into it.

I "tightened" the shroud, by hand, so it kind of more-or-less "felt" about like its mates.

Now I'm thinking I best learn something about the art of rig tuning.

Back in Book Recommendations?, I'd asked for recommendations on which one or two next books to buy. Got two recommendations for books about rigging. Which of these should I get?

[ccam]

"The Complete Rigger's Apprentice", by Brion Toss with forwords by none other than Larry Pardey.
I'm dink in execution of a cover to cover read however, I've referenced the rig tensioning and geometry.

[sailingdog]

I'd second the Toss book.

[capttb]

Toss also makes a video on rig tuning I found to be very good.
http://media-products.com/catalog/pr...products_id=78

[Tartan34C]

Toss wrote a very good book based on real experience with intelligent updating to some of the older technologies. We have a copy in the company library and one in the shop.

He is a touch simplistic about design but it’s not intended to be a textbook on rig design instead it’s a book to show you the current practice as far as maintenance and upgrades goes. The mast design information isn’t wrong or misleading it just covers one very simple method that is most suitable for low tech rigs and doesn’t work well for a modern high-tech racer or fast cruiser. It’s also intended for the owner/builder instead of the rigging shop so he doesn’t cover much in the way of swaging technique and holding power of different arrangements of fastenings. I think that’s a shame because he has a lot to contribute to some of the debates about the details but he is very easy to talk to if you want to follow up on what you read.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[SEMIJim]

Wow, kind of surprised by the poll results and the follow-ups. Dedekam's book was 3:2 over Toss' when I last asked about books.

Thanks for the votes and comments. I'll give it until the end of today, or so. Would like to get whichever by this weekend, if possible.

Jim

[tenuki]

you'll need a loos gauge too probably. You may be better off hiring a pro rigger to tune your rig, measuring it with a loos gauge to have a baseline, then learning rig tuning. But then I always take the lazy way.

[Sailormann]

you'll need a loos gauge too probably.

I agree - get one and use it often. Matter of fact - get the Loos gauge first, follow the guide that comes with it and then just read up on rigging tips here on the net.

[sailaway21]

I did it Sailormann's way. (g)

[SEMIJim]

I was rather hoping to avoid having to buy a tension gauge. I notice Loos & Co. (Cableware?) has two series: One consisting of the 9x-model A/B and the other being the "PT" series. I see prices for the PT series in the $100 - $150 range. Haven't found any prices for the 9x-model A/B gauges. Also see references on Loos' site about a "standard" gauge, but find nothing else about it. I'm going to guess the "economy" gauges are less expensive. Question is: Are they accurate and repeatable? I've seen comments on-line and elsewhere to suggest that (some?) wire tension gauges are not.

Talked to PO about this yesterday. He's as mystified as I over that one lower shroud becoming that loose. He also said he never used tension gauges. Said his experience was the readings were too inconsistent to be of use, in his opinion.

Jim