[Rhodes22-list] 175 and backstay tension

[Leland]

Shawn,

You know more about mast rake effects and rigging more than I so take my
comments with a grain of salt.

I never lowered or raised my mast from 2005 up until my boat was repaired
this year.  When I first got the boat I took a level to the sides of the
mast but the boat wasn't sitting completely flat in the water and it sure
looked perpendicular to the deck so I didn't bother making an adjustment.  I
eye-balled the mast again after the repairs and it still looks straight.

If you check the archives and the owners site I think there's something in
there about what is believed to be the correct tension as measured by a loo?
gauge.

A friend recently told me that his rigger said you should make the okay sign
around your shrouds with your thumb and forefinger and see if it's loose
enough to touch your fingers.  Not sure if that applies to the back and
forestays and it doesn't tell you if your stays are too tight.

Everything I read about lee and weather helm just confuses me.  It looks
like you want a tiny bit of weather helm for feel and so you're boat will
head into the wind slightly to stay on tack or go into irons if there's no
one at the helm.

Here's my confusion.  Everytime I change sail balance or point-of-sail it
affects helm, and I can easily add lee or weather helm by adding or removing
the amount of main and head sail.  I often try to balance my sails so my
tiller is set about three degrees into the wind.

At_Ease_-_7-3-09_006.jpg
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/n45889/At_Ease_-_7-3-09_006.jpg>  

I don't normally leave the helm without the tiller locked without using my
human ballast to balance the boat like a big surfboard.

No idea the distance between my beckets.  Didn't even know what a becket was
until you made me Google it.

Good luck!

Lee
1986 Rhodes22  AT EASE
Kent Island, MD



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