[ianjoub]

Hi again..

I stood up the mast on my Macgregor 25. The forestay is loose, as in 6" play. The rear stay is tight. I have no more adjustment on the forestay. The mast looks to be straight up, more or less. Should I try to lean the mast back until the forestay is tight, then adjust the rear, or am I missing something?

Also, how tight should the stays be, generally speaking?

 

[ianjoub]

Ian, a couple of questions, is that forestay attached to the masthead? (tip top). Do you have a stay running through the roller furling extrusion? Is this the first time you have raised the mast? This boat is a fractional rig so the forestay shouldn't go all the way to the top. The roller furling extrusion needs a stay threaded through it so there is something for it to rotate around. There should be a certain amount of "rake" in the mast (where it is angled aft slightly less than 90 degrees). Chances are the turnbuckles have all been turned so the rig probably is no longer in alignment. Remember that you need to loosen (or tighten) the lower shrouds (both forward and aft) in order to adjust the fore and aft stays.

The forestay is attached about 1" below the masthead.

There is a stay running through the roller furling. It is attached and holding up the mast right now.

This is the first time I have raised any mast....

Should the side stays be in a different spot?

 

[ianjoub]

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh let me find a mac 25 pic for you

from the looks of it you have the lower attached at one point...then you pulled the bacskaty tight hence the massive bend in the mast for your rig and loose forestay

looks like you have fore and aft lowers.

also on your last pic you have a VERY bad kink on your forestay mid way up...inspect that first

are you saying you have a forestay inside the furler? then you dont need this other one...make sure you adjust without the tripod mast raiser...

something weird is going on since you have tang attachments forward of where you currently have them attached(your side stays) having said that all pics I found for mac 25 shows it like you have it...but not that forward tang(might be a year model change)

Ok, this makes sense. The forestay inside the furler was adjusted properly and holding the mast. I was worried about the other, which I suppose is superfluous. The pin/cleat was spread. Apparently, that was so it fit over an eye hook in the bow, where it reached perfectly. I guess that is just to keep it from flopping and getting in the way. I adjusted the rest of the stays and all looks good. The mast is looking relatively straight, and there is no kink in the forestay.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[ianjoub]

A big thank you to everyone again. The mast is up and all the measurements have been taken for the new headsail. I'll post my next dilemmas in a new thread