i tuned the standing rigging for a race on sunday at 42 out/40 in. in the first leg i noticed that the inners were loosing tension while on leward. we tried to tighten them while racing but couldn't do a good job at it. who should i deal with this?

Ah... one, in both PHRF and under the one design rules, you aren't supposed to change your rigging tension after the prep signal.

Two, your tension isn't changing, the rig's loading up. On any conventional stayed rig, when you go upwind, the rig loads up on the windward side, and unloads on the leeward side. That's fully expected. On most boats, properly tuned, the lee lowers go sloack when your properly powerd up and heeled over, and the uppers get softer as well. A fair bit of the load generated by the sails is lateral. (Hey, that's why boats heel, pretty much) All that load's pulling against the windward shrouds and towards the leeward ones.

- David

we noticed that the lowers got very sloack and got worst with every tack. when we got to the marina both inners were extra soft. we meassured them and confirmed that they lost tension (from 40 before the race to 32 at the end of it).

i know i shouldn't have worked with them during the race; but, i'd rather have a DQ than a broken mast.

what's your recommendation, if any, to prevent it from happening again?

thanks for your time and counselling.

Just a thought - if you measured without the backstay loose, it will make the lowers slack more. Was the backstay fully slack for both measurements? If it was, you have some serious issues with your rig moving. Check things like base of the mast not locked in place or more seriously pending failure such as attachment points (chainplates, fittings on shrouds) etc. Moving from 40 to 32 is a whole bunch of turns on the turnbuckles!

On a heavy air day, we had our lowers unscrew themselves to within about 3 threads of coming apart. We were extremely close to losing the rig. For 4 years before that I never pinned the shrouds, now I do. Dumb question, but are they pinned to make sure they don't turn?

Ah. Ok. Yes, if they are not pinned, conventional turnbuckles can (and in heavy air *WILL* turn) Make sure they're pinned. With Ronstan turnbuckles, make sure to take an extra hard turn on the locknut, and/or tape it.

- David

thanks a lot guys!

no, they were not pinned. i'll make sure they are before sailing again. nonetheless, i will survey the rig as a whole. it's scary to think that the mast is moving below deck. even more, figure out why did it move. at least, the chainplates are new (changed both on Feb 2006).

you have been of great help. i appreciate your time.

hey! in Puerto Rico we have a few activities setup for the winter. if any of you happen to be around and feel like racing PHRF (we don't have a J-30 fleet yet) feel free to write.

coloncon@aol.com

thanks again!