I am sure there are a lot of opinions on this but what would you suggest as to the proper tension of the shrouds on a nacra 6.0? I used to have them at the 5th position but the mast seemed to jerk back and forth a bit too much on a rough day- and was slack on the leeward side when on the trap. I then tensioned them to the 6th posit and the mast seemed more stable but I was worried that maybe they were too tight. I am not concerned with mast rake necessarily (I understand the concept/benefits, but it is beyond me and I don't want to mess with the diamond wires). Any rough suggestions would be welcome.
Secondly- has anyone come up with a good way of getting rid of the cleats on the blocks for the jib- like puting cleats on the hulls so that when you are on the windward hull you don't have to worry about the cleats auto cleating on the burdened sheet and having to "whip" them out?
I appreciate any assistance- had my first race last weekend and felt infinitely better about racing towards the end of the weekend.
Rig tension should be as tight as possible - but not so tight that it resists mast rotation too much. I used to get my crew (210lbs) to grab a trapeze ring and trapeze from the side of the boat at the rear beam while I set the shroud. From a boat durability perspective, you really can't overtighten them - the leeward shroud will almost always be slack while underway anyway which indicates that the windward shroud is handling more load than you put there originally...our boats just aren't that stiff. Some will argue (including myself) that you should release the tension some if you are going to leave the boat rigged for an extended period. The point of the rig tension is to help keep the forestay tight - especially in lightish air. With the forestay good and tight, the jib luff is straighter allowing you to point higher. Mainsheet tension also helps to tighten the forestay...but sometimes you don't want too much of that either.
Jib blocks; they can be a pain but you should be able to adjust the angle of the cleat on the Harken blocks so that you can release them without having to whip them excessively. I always had a problem with the lazy block getting caught under the cheese slicer (wire going across the trampoline that the jib blocks attach to). If you have this problem, you can run a bunji from the block forward or put a short 3" pigtail between the block and the cheese slicer.
I always tought the leeward shroud went slack becouse the mast bent?? What parts of the boat is it that flex so badly? I know the bows toe-in a bit, and that the beams are a weak point, but is it really so pronounced as that?
Agreed... I think the slack comes from mast bend, not boat flex.
-Rob V.
Sure, part of it comes from mast bend. But doesn't some of it from the windward shroud stretching?
Approx' 97% mast bend and the rest from the general "flex" of the platform. If the platform flexes more than that then it is "walking" more than it should, any rigging wire "stretch" is a negligible factor (except when it is new and hasn’t been “sailed” in yet)