[Rhodes22-list] How to improve Rhodes 22 upwind performance?

[Rick Lange]

Hi Roger,

Again, you have it backwards.  The forestay length is taken with the mast
free standing and prevented from falling by the 4 lower stays and shrouds.
Putting undue stress on the step with a too-short forestay buys nothing but
maintenance headache.

That the mast does not pivot when rigged should be evident to you when you
lower it because you have to give it a good shove to get it started.  That
shove slides the aft edge of the foot forward on the step plate, raising
the turning bolt in its vertical slot.

As often discussed on this list, sometimes the mast step plate tears loose
and no pivot occurs.  Pulling on the screws attaching the step by an overly
tight forestay contributes to this problem by opening space for water to
run down the screws and rot the wooden mast step base.

Regards,

Rick Lange


On Mon, Mar 21, 2022 at 5:33 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:

> Rick,
>
> With respect sir, you apparently know how your boat works.
>
> If you change the length of the forestay, do you honestly think the rake
> angle of the mast isn’t going to change?  Of course the mast pivots on the
> mast step.  You pivot the mast on the mast step thru 90 degrees every time
> you step or unstep the mast.  Once the mast is up there, do you think it’s
> rigidly protruding from the mast step?  Once you have established the mast
> rake angle with the length of the forestay, you tune the rest of the
> standing rigging to work with that mast rake angle.  The mast rake angle is
> the first basic tuning parameter you set when tuning the standing rigging.
>
> Go and take a good close look at your setup and think about how it has to
> work.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>