E32-2 Rig Tuning / Tension

ChrisS

Member III
Greg--

Glad to hear you've made it up into the central bay. I though you were in Gen Cove? Sounds like you are in the home stretch interms of getting your boat where you want it--nice work. I'll read this thread with great interest--my boat points higher on port tack than on starboard tack, despite the fact that from what I can tell the mast is in line and the rig evenly tuned. My lee lowers tend to slack a bit when close hauled, and I am wondering if this is some sort of imbalance.

See you out there soon.
 

Rhynie

Member III
Chris,
I was working for a company that sold a couple of the first fin keel Columbia 36's way back when. Both had multiple serious problems, but one of them sailed better on one tack than the other. We pulled our hair out and finally put her on the hard and started measuring the hull; the keel was bolted on a few degrees off CL and also canted to one side.
 

windjunkee

Member III
Greg,

I'm out of my league on this one. After bringing VOR back from Puerto Vallarta, we inspected all the standing rigging while the mast was down and then put her up and tightened it up with a keen eye to keep the mast in column. That was about it.
We have a hydraulic backstay tensioner. When close hauled or close reaching, the leeward aft lower is super loose on both tacks, but we intentionally set it that way so that we can throw the mast forward on downwind runs or reaches. I actually want to get a pro out to tune her up and see what sort of difference in performance I find.

In the mean time, I'm looking to educate myself from what you did, so keep us informed.

Jim McCone
Voice of Reason E-32 Hull #134
Redondo Beach, CA
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Over bent?

The only reason you might have to think the mast was overbent is if the mainsail was too flat for the conditions. If the main was sufficiently powered up then you could not have had too much bend.

Mast bend is used to tune the mast to the mainsail-and not really for any other reason. This is especialy true if you are not using a BS adjuster. In your case you find a prebend (since you don't have the adjuster this is what your really doing) which gives a good fit to the depth of your sail, and allows it to have the correct range of adjustment with the controls at your disposal.

If you have an overly full mainsail, you should increase the bend..If you felt the main was too flat, you should remove the bend.

From what I could see in your pics, the main looked about right, so I think you have it very close to correct!

Get back to me with any other questions!

Cheers,
S
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Very cool

When you see what looks like tip fall off to one side, it is either the uppers being relatively too loose (on the high side as you look up), or the intermediates being relatively too tight. Sounds like you made the right adjustment.

Keep in mind the rig setting which is ideal in say, 15 knots of breeze, may be too tight for the lighter stuff. It sounds like you are on the snug side, and you might want to go 2-3 turns looser on the uppers and 1.5-2 turns looser on the intermediates/lowers for under 10 knots. For sure you want to ease the backstay (in your case with the turnbuckle) in light air to sag off the headstay more-this will help you point in lighter air and create a more powerful genoa.

In your case, I would suggest (regardless of whether you use different settings for the uppers in different condition) you adjust the forward and aft lowers for the conditions. On breezy days go to the bendier shape by easing the aft lowers and taking up the same amount on the fwd lowers, and in light air do the reverse to straighten the mast and make the main fuller..
I was curious about your topping lift comment: what you are getting at?

Glad you are having fun!

Cheers!:egrin:
 
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