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Old 07-13-2012, 07:17 AM
Brion Toss Brion Toss is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,180
Default Obstacles

Sheesh,
First they put furlers on the jibstay, so you couldn't put a gauge there, then they put biminis around the backstay, so you had to climb up on top of that flimsy canvas to get a gauge onto a clear portion of the backstay, because the part below the bimini had antenna wire zip-tied to it, and there was no place for the gauge there. Or they made it a forked backstay, so not only did you have to work out the relative vectors of backstay and jibstay, you had to work out the relative vectors of backstay and backstay legs, too. And then they thought, what the hell, let's just encase the whole thing in a big pipe, and put the wire completely out of reach unless you're willing to climb halfway up to the masthead, and there your own weight, pulling sideways on the stay, is enough to throw off the reading.
But remember, the gauge is just a handy tool, not the only way to get a tune. In your case, you just need to add tension until you get the desired jib luff sag. Note that, in order to keep desired rake and bend, you might need to add tension to the jibstay as well as the backstay, and this will be difficult, because they've buried the jibstay turnbuckle inside that furler -- oh, never mind.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss
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