Charlie Morgan wrote:
Walt wrote:
Charlie Morgan wrote:
On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:38:14 -0500, Walt wrote:
Charlie Morgan wrote:
On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:19:22 -0500, Walt wrote:

Rig tension looks about right to me - very loose when the boat is not
actually under way. Why leave the rig under tension any longer than you
need to?

Because flex=fatigue. A rig left loose wears out faster as it flops around.

"Aside from performance and comfort benefits, rig tuning provides
safety and rig longevity. This is because loose wire will get
shock-loaded, which accellerates fatigue, and because tight wire will
load cycle closer to its elastic limit, which also accelerates
fatigue."

He's talking about keelboats, not drysailed dinghys ashore on the dolly.
With the latter (i.e. the boat that's in the picture) it's standard
practice to take the tension off when ashore. On many dinghys this
happens automatically when you drop the jib.

BTW, dinghy sailors know how to tune rig tension ourselves. We don't
need a $110/hr consultant to do it for us.

//Walt

"Walt" wrote
BTW, dinghy sailors know how to tune rig tension ourselves. We don't need a $110/hr consultant to do it for us.

How do you do it? Do you sail on one tack with about a 20knot wind and
check the leeward shrouds and tighten the turnbuckles until there's no slack.
And, then come about and sail on the other tack and do the other side? That's
the best way to do it if you don't have some special too. That's what I was
told at least. Oh the forestay you have to tighten so it stays pretty straight
when sailing with your jib. That automatically tightens up the back stay.
But when you have only three stays like my Tangerine it gets more complicated.
Three's harder to get right than four.

Cheers,
Ellen

Charlie Morgan wrote:


Oh, I see! Dinghy rigging is immune to the laws of physics. Who woulda
thunk it?

Thanks for the clarification, Waldo.

Dude, you like really *wasted* that straw man. I mean, there's straw
all over the place now. Hope you're happy.

//Walt

what would you call your little cat fight with her?


"Ellen MacArthur" wrote in
message
reenews.ne
t...

"Scotty" wrote
I'm starting to worry about Max, first he's spouting gay
rights and now he's arguing about nails with Ellen.

You call what Maxprop does arguing? That's pretty lame
arguing IMO.
No facts, no logic, no system, no couth, no results. lol

Cheers,
Ellen

"Ellen MacArthur" wrote in message
reenews.net...

"Walt" wrote
BTW, dinghy sailors know how to tune rig tension ourselves. We don't
need a $110/hr consultant to do it for us.

How do you do it? Do you sail on one tack with about a 20knot wind
and
check the leeward shrouds and tighten the turnbuckles until there's no
slack.
And, then come about and sail on the other tack and do the other side?
That's
the best way to do it if you don't have some special too. That's what I
was
told at least. Oh the forestay you have to tighten so it stays pretty
straight
when sailing with your jib. That automatically tightens up the back stay.
But when you have only three stays like my Tangerine it gets more
complicated.
Three's harder to get right than four.

Cheers,
Ellen

No, it is not harder. Tighten all three up to a decent tension so that the
mast is upright and there is no slackness that can lead to fatigue failure
when not in use. Then, when you hoist your jib, tension up the jib really
hard so that the forestay does go a bit slack and the luff wire of the jib
has all the tension. The remaining two shrouds will then be correctly
tensioned.

"Walt" wrote in message
...

Rig tension looks about right to me - very loose when the boat is not
actually under way. Why leave the rig under tension any longer than
you
need to?

Because flex=fatigue. A rig left loose wears out faster as it flops
around.

Um. No.

Sorry.

Um. Yes.

Indeed yes if the boat is afloat

Perhaps you should ask Brion Toss.


Be my guest. Phrase the question like this:

"I've got a 505 that I dry sail from a launch dolly. Should I loosen
the rig when I bring her ashore?"

Here's the answer:

Absolutely. With a dry sailed dinghy, you always slacken the rig once
ashore. It takes the tension off the hull, which will fatigue if kept
under load.

Fatigue is failure of a component (in this case a wire) by reason of
repeated cycles of stress which individually are below the elastic limit of
the material. This happens if you leave the rigging slack while the boat is
rocking about on a mooring. I knew a guy who did this and brand new rigging
broke overnight as his mast twanged repeatedly at its rigging as the boat
rolled (shock loads are about three times as stressful as steady loads).
It is not fatigue if the hull slowly distorts under prolonged heavy loading.
This is 'creep' of the hull material and if you must have a dinghy rigged
that tightly then you should certainly slacken it up when you haul her
ashore.

"Edgar" wrote
No, it is not harder. Tighten all three up to a decent tension so that the
mast is upright and there is no slackness that can lead to fatigue failure
when not in use. Then, when you hoist your jib, tension up the jib really
hard so that the forestay does go a bit slack and the luff wire of the jib
has all the tension. The remaining two shrouds will then be correctly
tensioned.

It's harder for me because the wire in my jib rusted and the eye splice
and thimble broke right off. I'm having to unstitch all along the luff to get
the rest of the rusty broken wire cable out of there. So I can't hoist up the
jib really hard or it might rip. So I have to do it with the shrouds and stay
all by themselves...

Cheers,
Ellen

"Edgar" wrote
Fatigue is failure of a component (in this case a wire) by reason of
repeated cycles of stress which individually are below the elastic limit of
the material. This happens if you leave the rigging slack while the boat is
rocking about on a mooring. I knew a guy who did this and brand new rigging
broke overnight as his mast twanged repeatedly at its rigging as the boat
rolled (shock loads are about three times as stressful as steady loads).
It is not fatigue if the hull slowly distorts under prolonged heavy loading.
This is 'creep' of the hull material and if you must have a dinghy rigged
that tightly then you should certainly slacken it up when you haul her
ashore.


What about stupid people who make their standing rigging looser for the winter?
They say it's because the cold shrinks the wire and puts more stress on it. Duh?
Maybe that might make sense for wooden masts but not for aluminum masts. Aluminum
shrinks too when it's cold. So the tension stays about the same hot or cold.

Cheers,
Ellen

"Scotty" wrote
what would you call your little cat fight with her?

Maxprop is a her? I don't think so....

Cheers,
Ellen

Edgar wrote:


Because flex=fatigue. A rig left loose wears out faster as it flops

Indeed yes if the boat is afloat

Agreed.

But the boat in the picture is not afloat. It's on a launch dolly.

//Walt