Cal 29 rigging tension

I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. Thanks in advance, Scott 74 Cal29

This might help if you have not seen it. http://l-36.com/lapworth_letter.pdf <http://l-36.com/lapworth_letter.pdf> On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:22 PM, hatikvah29 <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net>wrote: > > > I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how > people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to > get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the > mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about > forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when > it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. > Thanks in advance, > Scott > 74 Cal29 > > >

There is a very nicely written section in Brion Toss' book The Riggers Apprentice. Terry Spencer Cal 2-29 On Jun 24, 2010, at 7:22 PM, hatikvah29 wrote: > I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. > Thanks in advance, > Scott > 74 Cal29 > >

That is a great letter. What is the reference to the truck mean? Scott 74 Cal29 From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Edwards Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:45 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension This might help if you have not seen it. http://l-36.com/lapworth_letter.pdf On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:22 PM, hatikvah29 <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net> wrote: I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. Thanks in advance, Scott 74 Cal29

Mr. Lapworth is referring to the top 6 inches of the mast,the mast head. Many of the sails that he makes reference to are not in popular use today, remember that this letter was written a long time ago. Many boats now use the backstay to curve(bend) the rig to pull draft out of the main and really tighten the forestay. On SF Bay perhaps more tension on the upper shrouds is called for, also more on the aft lowers. Remember most of the load is carried by the aft lowers. Your mast should not pump but some deflection sideways is ok. At the dock the uppers and lowers will be taunt but when going to weather there will be considerable slack in the leeward shrouds caused by the weather rigging allowing the mast to fall off. Contact Steve Seal at Seal's Spars 1327 Sherman st. Alameda 510 521 7730 www.sealsspars.com Steve built boats for Jensen Marine in Costa Mesa in the 1960's Keep it FUN!!! My Best, Mike From: Scott Cyphers <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Thu, June 24, 2010 8:36:54 PM Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension That is a great letter. What is the reference to the truck mean? Scott 74 Cal29 From:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Edwards Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:45 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension This might help if you have not seen it. http://l-36.com/lapworth_letter.pdf On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:22 PM, hatikvah29 <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net> wrote: I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. Thanks in advance, Scott 74 Cal29

Truck is plate at top of mast Cheers, Timm Lessley (Sent from Blackberry) (503) 863-4019 From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thu Jun 24 21:36:54 2010 Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension That is a great letter. What is the reference to the truck mean? Scott 74 Cal29 From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Edwards Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:45 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension This might help if you have not seen it. http://l-36.com/lapworth_letter.pdf On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:22 PM, hatikvah29 <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net<mailto:sc… [at] sbcglobal.net>> wrote: I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. Thanks in advance, Scott 74 Cal29

For the sake of completeness, I will point out that there seem to be two theories on rig tightness. Lapworth was of the lose rig camp but there is a tight rig camp. That camp points out that if you have the lowers and uppers just tight when the rig is under load sailing, that the forces are no more than they would be with a lose rig but the rig is snug so will not experience as much shock load on waves. It is true that the rig will not be under more stress when sailing but it will certainly be under more stress at the dock unless you slack off on the turnbuckles after your sailing day. I am of the lose camp as my boat has been made deeper over the years as it is and I don't want it to change shape any more. Also, the main guy I race against, who puts many thousands of pounds on his forestay when racing, has the lowers and uppers sloppy lose at the dock, no tension at all. Of course, they are under whatever tension is required to keep the mast up when sailing. This points out that no matter what camp you are in, making sure the mast stays in column or perhaps falls off a little is the most important thing. A mast is only strong because it is straight. If you let it go into a C or worse a S, it is much less strong. Cheers, Allen On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 1:00 AM, mike farrell <ve… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: > > > Mr. Lapworth is referring to the top 6 inches of the mast,the mast > head. Many of the sails that he makes reference to are not in popular use > today, remember that this letter was written a long time ago. Many boats > now use the backstay to curve(bend) the rig to pull draft out of the main > and really tighten the forestay. On SF Bay perhaps more tension on the upper > shrouds is called for, also more on the aft lowers. Remember most of the > load is carried by the aft lowers. Your mast should not pump but some > deflection sideways is ok. At the dock the uppers and lowers will be taunt > but when going to weather there will be considerable slack in the leeward > shrouds caused by the weather rigging allowing the mast to fall off. Contact > Steve Seal at Seal's Spars 1327 Sherman st. Alameda 510 521 7730 > www.sealsspars.com Steve built boats for Jensen Marine in Costa Mesa in > the 1960's > Keep it FUN!!! My Best, Mike > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Scott Cyphers <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net> > > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Thu, June 24, 2010 8:36:54 PM > *Subject:* RE: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension > > > > That is a great letter. What is the reference to the truck mean? > > Scott > > 74 Cal29 > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] *On > Behalf Of *Allen Edwards > *Sent:* Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:45 PM > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] Cal 29 rigging tension > > > > > > This might help if you have not seen it. > > > > http://l-36.com/lapworth_letter.pdf > > > > > > On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:22 PM, hatikvah29 <sc… [at] sbcglobal.net> > wrote: > > > > I just bought all new standing rigging for my Cal29 and am wondering how > people setup their rig. I know about the basics of using a tape measure to > get the mast straight left and right and the uppers and lowers to keep the > mast from bending in the middle or something screwy. I am wondering about > forestay and backstay and how much tension should be on all the wires when > it is tuned. I sail in san Francisco Bay so it gets windy. > Thanks in advance, > Scott > 74 Cal29 > > > > > > >

A copy of the rigging data that came with BayBreeze. Best regards /ch

I replaced the mast on Radiant about 10 years ago. The original plan was just to pull it and re-condition. When they were taking things apart, the weld that held the port-side spreader on to the mast simply fell off. Total weld failure. Back when these boats were launched, lose rigs were pretty common, and obviously lots of folks still like it that way. However, unless your spreaders can easily swing fore-and-aft, with a lose rig, with every wave you hit the leeward spreader jerks forward. This puts a significant load on the spreader base. Time-after-time-after-time. When the new mast was stepped, the rigger was very clear: set up the tension so that the leeward shrouds are taught when the windward shrouds are loaded in your typical wind conditions. This should prevent that jerking motion on the leeward spreaders. That was his opinion. I've followed it, and our speed seems just fine. Fin.

Very timely advice. When I took the mast down and was removing the rigging I noticed that the weld in the port spreader bracket had a crack about halfway down the weld. I had the yard bead blast it and grind it down and reweld it. This from the advice of Steve Seal. I was so glad to find that almost failure before it happwened. I think I agree to have the rig not slpooy. I am not racing it in other than beer cans so I would rather not beat the boat. Scott 74 Cal29 From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Fin Beven Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 1:02 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Rigging tension I replaced the mast on Radiant about 10 years ago. The original plan was just to pull it and re-condition. When they were taking things apart, the weld that held the port-side spreader on to the mast simply fell off. Total weld failure. Back when these boats were launched, lose rigs were pretty common, and obviously lots of folks still like it that way. However, unless your spreaders can easily swing fore-and-aft, with a lose rig, with every wave you hit the leeward spreader jerks forward. This puts a significant load on the spreader base. Time-after-time-after-time. When the new mast was stepped, the rigger was very clear: set up the tension so that the leeward shrouds are taught when the windward shrouds are loaded in your typical wind conditions. This should prevent that jerking motion on the leeward spreaders. That was his opinion. I've followed it, and our speed seems just fine. Fin.