Balanced rig/weather helm

[blt2ski]

Jim,

My system came std on my boat. not sure of brand, would swag goiot since that is what is mostly on this french built boat. i can get a pic and send it to you.

Marty

[tenuki]

I have a roller furler (Hood LD 705) and the forestay is adjustable, however it is a rather involved process that would really only be done at the dock as it means partial disassembly of the furling unit. I'm watching this backstay thread with interest.

[tdw]

We had massive weatherhelm on the old girl to the extent that I've had her do a ninety degree turn that was uncontrollable and we very nearly t-boned another vessel. Old main sheet was very hard to let off under heavy load.

Anyway, asked rigger to look at it and we have since fitted a shorter forestay, new main sheet arrangement with extra purchase. We have actually fitted a complete new rig but that's got nothing to do with this thread.

Whereas previously we had considerable sag in the forestay it's now nice and tight and rigger has put a lot more tension on the backstay than previously.

Took her out for her first sail last weekend and...

Genoa comes off and refurls much more easily than previous. Good.
Extra bend in the mast means flatter main. Good.
Goes to windward with more power even in light airs. Good.
When it puffs what weather helm there is is very controllable. Good.
She also seems to go through waves much more smoothly with less hobby horsing. Good.

All in all it's all good but most importantly to this thread, on the riggers suggestion we did not fit a backstay adjuster. Thus far I think he is on the money.

Emphasise that we do very little if any racing. Maybe do some twilights but that would be about all.

Boat is a 34' steel VDS sloop, masthead rig.

So, Denise, I'd reckon you need to shorten your forestay and get that rig set up poperly. It's a bugger when you have a furler but to my mind it's worth the hassle.

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by blt2ski

Jim,

My system came std on my boat. not sure of brand, would swag goiot since that is what is mostly on this french built boat. i can get a pic and send it to you.

Marty

Probably unnecessary, Marty, but thanks.

Jim

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by tdw

All in all it's all good but most importantly to this thread, on the riggers suggestion we did not fit a backstay adjuster. Thus far I think he is on the money.

Emphasise that we do very little if any racing. Maybe do some twilights but that would be about all.

Boat is a 34' steel VDS sloop, masthead rig.

So, Denise, I'd reckon you need to shorten your forestay and get that rig set up poperly. It's a bugger when you have a furler but to my mind it's worth the hassle.

Particularly for a masthead rig, unless you race I'm kind of thinking the expense wouldn't be worth the performance gain one might realize. There are many, many other things of greater importance: Properly adjusted rigging, good sails and good running rigging (sheets, blocks, vang, outhaul, etc.) are far more important, IMO.

What an adjustable backstay is going to do for you on a masthead rig is to allow you to tighten the forestay (not sure how much that matters with a furler) and perhaps bend the mast a bit--perhaps allowing you to flatten the main a bit. The only time you're really going to care about that is going to wind in heavier airs, and, again, only if you're looking for those last bits of performance improvement.

Don't get me wrong: I sincerely hope I can either rescue our backstay adjuster or replace it. But I'm not going to cry (much ) if neither is possible.

Jim

[tdw]

Originally Posted by SEMIJim

Particularly for a masthead rig, unless you race I'm kind of thinking the expense wouldn't be worth the performance gain one might realize. There are many, many other things of greater importance: Properly adjusted rigging, good sails and good running rigging (sheets, blocks, vang, outhaul, etc.) are far more important, IMO.

What an adjustable backstay is going to do for you on a masthead rig is to allow you to tighten the forestay (not sure how much that matters with a furler) and perhaps bend the mast a bit--perhaps allowing you to flatten the main a bit. The only time you're really going to care about that is going to wind in heavier airs, and, again, only if you're looking for those last bits of performance improvement.

Don't get me wrong: I sincerely hope I can either rescue our backstay adjuster or replace it. But I'm not going to cry (much ) if neither is possible.

Jim

Don't take this as gospel but it may be that the greatest advantage of the backstay adjuster would be in loosening the backstay and allowing more belly in the main in light to drifting conditions. It would also allow you to de-tension the rig when moored.
Given that we are a cruising boat the rigger has set us up for best performance in winds below first reef level. With the rig as it is now set up we can sail flatter when going uphill.

If I had a backstay adjuster then I would try and keep it. Even if you have stripped a gear , surely you can rebuild the thing. As an aside, when our anchor windlass sh_t itself everyone told me I'd need to buy a new one which was going to cost aud2500.00. Instead I spent a joyous few hours practicing my yoga in the forepeak whilst trying to get the damn thing out but having done so it ended up costing me aud500.00 for a new gearbox. Add in a new deck switch and deck pad and we are back in business.

[jboatjack]

How old are your sails, can you flatten (spade) them. I would be slow to make a rig change without exploring other options.

[deniseO30]

everywhere I happen to people sailing. It seems they would rather wrestle that main sheet instead of using the traveler... Of course they need a traveler that works with lines blocks and cleats. Under anykind of load that mainsheet is really hard to loosen and not get burns.