I recently noticed that the tang on my stemhead appears to be bent backwards at a 5-10 degree angle (I think it should be straight as shown in Fig. 1 for measureing headstay length). This must have happened sometime in the past. The boat is fitted with a harken furler, which is toggled to avoid off-axis loading, however, there is an uneven load in the clevis pin attaching the forestay and in the tang hole itself. I'm reluctant to bend it back for fear of inducing additonal cold work into the metal and possibly reducing its life. Does anyone have experience with this?
Additionally, I assume the headstay is 1x19 SS wire - is this right? For the headstay measurement called out in the rules, is the stay assumed to be in tension with the shrouds loaded at or near the maximum recommendation? How much stretch is assumed in the measurement rule?
