Need tuning help

[Buddy from the east coast]

One of the boats we race on is a mid 80s Hunter 355. Its a fractional rig with swept back spreaders and a back stay. We are looking for any help setting up the rig.
We have tried lots of things but none of us are that familiar with swept back spreaders.
The equipment is in good shape and the sails are new. The wind is mostly medium to heavy.
The boat has a very narrow steering angle and does not point well.
The fore stay allways looks too loose
The top of the mast above the second spreaders falls of alot.
Back stay adjuster when pulled in only makes the shrouds loose.
Maybe we should just set it and forget it for the season.
Any help would be great.
Thanks
Buddy

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
At grievous risk of sounding commercial, I believe all of your questions can be answered by studying my tuning video. You'll get principles galore, plus footage of tuning a Hunter with, I believe, an identical rig to yours. B&R rigs have unique tuning requirements, but they are wonderfully responsive to a good tune.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Buddy from the east coast]

Brion
Yes I just got the 4 pack of DVDs and I got to say you did a great job with them.
I used to have the splicing video years ago but my dog had it for lunch.
As a 20 year theater rigger I find the tapes very interesting because alot of the information applys for there as well.
I guess the big question with the Hunter is do we try to use the back stay or should we just tune it once and leave it for the summer.
I will give my friend the tuning DVD or better yet I will give him your web site info.
Thanks
Buddy Braile

[charrette]

i have a 1988 hunter 35 which is the same as the later 35.5 that was produced from 1990 to 1994. i tuned it myself this past season after viewing brion's video. the boat in the video is an early 90's 37.5 but the rig is the same (fractional rig with aftswept spreaders and a back stay which is a cross between a standard fractional and a b&r rig). before you set your prebend you should check your sail luff curve. the manual for these boats indicates 1" of prebend in the mast. if you don't tell your sail maker what prebend you want they most likely will default to 1". in brion's video he sets the prebend to about one mast depth which is consistent with other publications on tuning a fractional rig with aftswept spreaders. in any case the prebend should match the sail luff curve. too much pre-bend beyond the sails luff curve will flatten and depower the sail and vice versa if there is not enough. it is a good idea to have a backstay adjuster with this rig and take advantage of mast bend and how it effects sail shape. i am in the process of rigging one on my boat now.

one other note- the upper shrouds should be fairly tight with this rig about 20% to 25% to keep the headstay tight. with the backstay tensioned the uppers should be at about 20% and with the backstay loose the uppers will be close to 25%. they should not exceed 25%. snelden has a rig tuning guide that can be downloaded which is a good resource for various rig types as well as the book 'illustrated sail and rig tuning' by ivar dedkam.

[Buddy from the east coast]

Thanks alot I will pass this on to the owner of the 35. We are allways looking for ways of improving the rig tune.
Buddy