Articles05/30/2004 Gordon Gragson: Side Shroud Tension
From: Gordon Gragson [mailto:boxerfolks@microgear.net]
Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 10:13 PM
Dear Ken;
I have visited the Catalina 18 National Assn Web Site and must say I'm
impressed. After looking thru many web pages, I found plenty of information on
other models of Catalina products, but not much on the Capri 18.
I was amazed to see a mast stepper, and pictures too. I live in Shreveport, La
and am a member of the Shreveport Yacht Club. There is one other person who owns
a Capri 18, but I haven't met him yet.
I do have a question concerning the mast side shroud tension. I own a 2001 Capri
18 and it has the one peice side shrouds. I already been thru bending the T
toggles while stepping the mast and bought new ones at West Marine this spring.
So I had to lower the mast, loosen the turnbuckles and replace the toggles. So,
I'm now stumped at what tension I should set the shrouds at. I do have a basic
model Loos Tension Gauge, so I have some point of reference at just how tight
the side shrouds are. I have them set at between 32-35. Is this too tight or not
tight enough? I would appreciate any advise you could offer. Thank you.
G. Gragson
Gordon,
Following the recommended Loos tension settings for the C18's shrouds is a good
place to start. If you notice the leeward shrouds are slack upwind, you should
probably tighten the shrouds a bit more.
There are two reasons to pay attention to shroud tension:
Safety: Tacking or gybing in heavy air can overstress loose shrouds which may
either prematurely shorten the working lifespan of your shrouds or, in a worse
case scenario, lead to a dismasting. Although I have never personally heard of a
C18 dismasting (maybe someone else on the C18 N.A. has), I do confess I've felt
a bit uneasy tacking with loose shrouds in 15-20 mph winds Seeing the mast
suddenly jerk from one side to the other in a tack is hardly conducive to peace
of mind on what should be a relaxing day sail.
VMG: Undue leeward mast heel can compromise any boat's ability to point, a
concern for racing but not necessarily safety. The C18's modest (if not
embarrassing) two foot draft could support either of two opposing points of
view. One could argue that with so much leeward drift a few more degrees doesn't
matter. The retort might be that with the amount of leeward drift the C18
already has by default a racer needs every fraction of a degree possible to
windward to optimize the velocity made good (VMG).
In the spirit of fairness and balance, I feel compelled to offer reasons to
ignore the finer points of shroud tension.
Boat maintenance that falls into the category of optional (rather than
necessary) subtracts from time on the water. Adjusting shroud tension doesn't
take that much time but here in the Northeast where our sailing season sometimes
seems to be measured in hours, every minute doing anything other than sailing
makes up a disproportionate percentage of time on the water. (It rained two of
three days of this last Memorial Day weekend).
For day sailors who don't race nor have any intention of going out when its
honking and every other sane sailor is nursing a hot toddy or reading a good
book on shore, just making sure the shrouds are tight enough to keep the boom
out of the water may be sufficient.
I fear I probably did not answer your question nor offer any useful information.
I should have forewarned you that might be the case. Nevertheless, I've copied
this e-mail to my more worthy mates in the C18 National Association and they
will undoubtedly provide a more useful and (you can only hope) briefer reply.
Regards,
Ken
Ken Ong
Hull #333, 'Amazing Grace'