Loose Shrouds

Just purchased an '82 H16 in good shape, did some hull repairs, etc. and am now looking go get out on the lake.

Stepped the mast yesterday in the driveway with a couple of buddies and we were freaked out by the slack in the shrouds even when set on their lowest setting. I know from reading a bunch of posts that tension, rake, etc. is controlled by the jib halyard and when we did tension the jib halyard, things firmed up. BUT there's so much play in the shrouds when the boat is just resting on the trailer that I'm worried about the mast swaying back and forth or jumping out of the base when I'm simply backing up the trailer down the boat ramp. I believe I could lift the mast straight up out of the base if I chose to.

I noticed this comment in a post from mmiller:
<<When the boat is static on the beach, the rig should be taut with NO slack in the shrouds.>>

So, am I correct in saying that the shrouds should be taut, but not tensioned when on the trailer with no sails up?

Sorry if I'm posting a question that's been answered a million times, but as someone who has sailed mostly keeled monohulls with stays and shrouds tensioned like piano wires, this is a bit confusing.

miguel

Hmmm, depends on... If you trailer the boat for a day sail and you do not keep it out on the trailer with the mast stepped for many days (weeks), then I think the slack in the shrouds / forestay does not matter. What I am trying to say is the time period between stepping the mast and tensioning the jib halyard is very short - not too much can happen during that time.

If you keep the boat out with the mast stepped, I would not recommend keeping the rig too loose. Two years ago I kept my boat beached overnight during a short camping trip. I left the rig very loose (forestay attached to the upper hole on the chain plate) I claim that a severe thunderstorm with high winds caused some sort of whiplash action to the mast and bend it. I still have that mast - It probably could be re-bend. At the time it was faster and easier to replace it with an other used one.

If you are concerned about the slack in the rig while the jib is down - just use the jib halyard with out the jib to pull enough to tension the rig. You might need a short line to extend the jib halyard to attach to the chain plate.

Patrick

I think that comment by mmiller must have been refering to when the sails are up and the jib halyard is tensioned. I don't think you want any tension in the forestay.

If you have a tremendous amount of slack when rigged sans sails, could it be possible that you have an updated forestay but older shrouds? The newer generation rigging is designed to give you more aft mast rake which means that the shrouds are shorter and the forestay is longer. If you replace your shrouds, you may find your problem solved.

Thanks everyone. You just confirmed one of the reasons I bought a hobie. An active community. Anyway, the conclusions I'm coming to from the Open Forum and the H16 Forum are:

• Really (as in really, really) slack shrouds even with the sails off and no halyard tension is probably not good. On the other hand I can’t compare them to shrouds on a monohull. And I don’t want to over tension them and not have good mast rotation.
• If I leave the mast stepped while on the trailer, (which I'm going to do) the jib halyard should be tensioned so I don't get stuck with a bent mast like Yoh's.
• pd might be right about the forestay being updated. It looks like its in better shape than the shrouds and it has no jacket. The shrouds are very dirty even after scrubbing and have a number of kinks, cuts, etc. (They seem superficial, but...)

So, I’m thinking I’ll get new shrouds. I should have factored this in when I bought the boat. I was so intent on finding an H16 with good hulls I didn’t really consider how much a new tramp, some new blocks, new halyards, epoxy, wax, cleaners, etc. and now new shrouds would cost. But, hey the fun/cost ratio will still be high...right!

mig