Tension Gauge for 1/2" wire

[Dennis1]

Brion - I sent you a PM with a link to pics on the original owner's site, which I'm careful not to post publicly in order to make sure I don't overwhelm his site.

For everyone else, my sailboat is a 50' sloop-rigged Columbia 50, which I believe is the last sailboat designed by Bill Tripp just before he died. As I indicated to Brion, please feel free to correct me if my research has misled me there. I'm trying to get a good dock tune and appreciate any help in finding a good tool for 1/2" wire line. I appreciate all the feedback from folks already and welcome any comments, thoughts or general observations ...

[Dennis1]

Brion - When you mention measuring stretch, do you mean using a different type of gauge? I'm up for any decent gauge that will show me the tension on the 1/2" line.

As far as dynamic tuning, I'm OK with making sure that the leeward lower shrouds are not flopping loose and have a slight tension on them, but I'm not sure how to assess the upper shrouds. I just don't have enough experience to trust myself. I want to make sure that I don't create a compression load on the mast, nor excessive tension on the upper shrouds while still distributing the force appropriately with sufficient tension. I figured a gauge would help until I develop a feel for it.

I did find one tension gauge that would work at: http://www.force-gauge.net/dillon_qu...sion_meter.htm, but at $1325.00 I think I'll keep looking for something a bit less expensive