[Rhodes22-list] shroud tension

[David Rasberry]

Jack,

The best way to tension shrouds is with a Loos tension gauge, about 40 bucks
from West Marine.
The Rhodes uses 1/8" wire. Normal shroud tension should be about 10% of the
breaking strength of the wire, for  1/8" on a rig like the Rhodes about
150lbs on the lowers and 180 to 200lbs on the uppers. There should
definitely not be any play or movement at all with the mast, probably what
caused the damage with the bolt. The mast should be dead straight vertical
with the heel flat on the deck plate for starters. Fine tuning may require
raking the mast fore or aft slightly for helm balance, but you can save that
for when you have more sailing time in.
Without a tension gauge, a good starting point is to take up tension equally
on all turnbuckles a little at a time just until there is no free movement
at all when you push on the mast in any direction. You can count exposed
threads on the turnbuckles to make sure your adjustments are even on both
sides. Each pair of turnbuckles on opposite sides of the boat should match:
front lowers, aft lowers, uppers, and backstays. The forestay is on its own,
and depending on the particular rig or year may not have a turnbuckle to
adjust it. It is easier to do this with the boat on the trailer so you can
walk around it and check for straightness.  When you are satisfied that the
mast is straight and there is no play at all left in the rig, tighten each
turnbuckle one full turn to add tension. This will still be less than the
tension loads listed above, but it is better to be a little light than to
over tighten the rig. This should give you a good starting point for fine
tuning the rig after sailing the boat some.

Razz

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-admin@rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-admin@rhodes22.org]On Behalf Of Jack Goldberg
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 7:48 PM
To: Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] shroud tension


This list has been helpful in the past, so I'll come to the trough of
knowledge to feed again.
I noted with interest the thread about the mast plate bolts coming loose and
the response with regard to the tension of the shrouds. My 84' has a
standard main. When I bought the boat this spring, the shrouds were very
loose (obout 3 inches of play from side to side at about 3 feet from the
deck. The guy I bought the boat from said that was OK, but now I'm worried.
Is there a spec' on how tight (or loose) the shrouds should be under no
load?

Jack Goldberg,

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