BYYB Forums

Shroud Tension Vacationer- Initial Settings Suggestions ? Chainplates Strengthened ?

Hi Friends,

I have two questions about the Vacationer-

I obtained a Vacationer on trailer a few months ago, and am in process of doing minor maintenance and checking out all of her components before setting her in the water.

Quite a story behind her original build-

a machinist obtained the plans in 1985;
he constructed off- and- on for 12 years;
the boat has seen water only twice ever;
( I think he lost interest and prefers a bass boat and fishing..... );
interestingly, many of the metal components he machined himself.

Personally, I regard this boat as 99 % complete and in essentially un- used and ' new ' condition. ( Excluding the cabin interior which has yet to be outfitted with ' living ' accessories. )

1)- Question one- I have been searching the internet and now the Forums to find information on suggestions for initial tension settings for the shrouds and the fore- stay. I may show my ignorance if I offer my own ' guesses '- 350 lbs. for each shroud and 550 lbs. for the mainstay- but that may be wrong, as I do not know yet. I am very new and my questions will eventually give that away !
( Those are the settings I would ' try ' if I were somehow compelled to put her in the water on short notice. )

2)- Question two- I also need to know if the chainplate design from the 1985 plans for the Vacationer has sufficient strength ?
The original builder did not include the 1 " stock as backing to add strength to that 1/4 " side wall !
This boat is really a beauty of craftsmanship, but I have decided she will NOT hit the water again UNTIL the chainplates are strengthened, at least according to the original plans ( which came with the boat ) to include the backing or something else more up- to- date !

Thank- you so much for the opportunity to obtain some real information about the Vacationer.

It has been a long search.

Kevin

P.S.- Ace Hardware still offers that urea- based glue powder for wood that needs water added. ANOTHER long search successful ! DAP- Weldwood- Plastic Resin Glue- Hooray !

Greetings Kevin,

None of the trailer sailors I know has ever measured their rig tension. They all tighten up the rig just enough to sail properly.

The usual procedure goes something like this ...

First they tighten up the shrouds just enough to remove the slack. Then they carefully cleat off the jib halyard to the correct length so that the hoist end just reaches the deck at the rails. They can now swing the halyard from port to starboard to check for mast plumb. The side with more distance between the end of the halyard and the deck gets tightened until swinging the halyard shows no differences. Now that the mast is plumb, they can go sailing.

While sailing, the leeward shrouds are checked for slackening. If the leeward shrouds go fully slack, then they round up into the wind and tighten both sides an equal amount, and then they continue sailing. Its an iterative process and is repeated until the leeward shrouds no longer slacken all the way. Obviously, fresher breezes require more rig tension, and the rig forces generally peak out when the hull is heeled just past 20 degrees from vertical. 

On boats with backstays, the backstay is then tensioned to tighten up the jib stay until the sag in the jib is reduced to acceptable levels. For boats like the Weekender and Vacationer, the rear shrouds can be tightened to reduce jib stay sag.

Finally, the position of all of the turnbuckles is marked with a wrapping of electrical tape on the threads so that the rig can quickly be set for the next time.

A highfield lever on the jib stay or both shrouds releases the tension all at once, and makes rig teardown and subsequent setup a snap.

The point of all of the above is to use the minimum amount of tension in the rig to keep the mast upright. Any more than that places unnecessary stress on the hull, and in the case of the Vacationer and Weekender, too much stress on the mast hinge / tabernacle.

The guys I know with the Hobie Cat catamarans understand this very well. If you tighten the shrouds excessively, the force will try to fold the cat in half as the mast is stepped right on top of one of the trampoline support poles. If you lift the plastic shroud cover, you will discover the cats have no turnbuckles at all, but instead have a stay adjuster formed from a u-shaped bracket (looks like a small rudder pintle) with a series of holes through which a pin locates the shroud. The shroud is tensioned by pulling down hard on the halyard (or sitting on a trapeze) and then setting the pin in the appropriate hole. When the halyard is eased, the shroud takes up the tension. Obviously, there cannot be more than about 50 to 100 lbs of initial pre-load tension in stays, but that is enough to keep the mast upright and prevent it from flopping around.

Or at least that's how I was taught. Was anybody else taught differently?

Cheers,
Tom

Was certainly helpfull to me.

Yep, the general rule is "tight enough". The only type of boats that will need to have tension checked are high aspect racers, of which the Vacationer is the exact opposite. Most just "twang" the shrouds and the feel and sound is good enough to get them in the ball park. Underway, you can preform some minor adjustments, but on a the gaff rig, it's really not as important as it is on a fractional racer. Balance and equal tension is what you want, not ft. pounds of force to displace them. If you want to get real annal about it, use a fish weighing scale and take measurements in the same place on opposing shrouds. Adjust them so they're the same, but only after seeing how she sails.

Thanks so much for the help !

You guys are supplying two answers in one- I see I can go with the original chainplate design as that has sufficient strength, and I will follow the advice to adjust stay tension as you go and use minimal tension, as needed, just enough. And keep paying attention.

I see that some of my online research into this subject that I mentioned was really intended for the heavier higher stress boats and conditions.

I did run across info on similar procedures for checking stay tension but I failed to put the pieces together properly as applied to the characteristics of the Vacationer : light weight.

Thanks again for setting me straight !

Kevin

P.S.- I wanted to add that my Vacationer has the ' wiskers ' on the bowsprit. And to state that I really respect and appreciate what I see and learn of this boat and I respect the original builder a lot ( the machinist ).

Greetings Kevin,

Along with the backing plates, it is probably a good idea to have all of the furniture bits like the shelving and cabinetry installed to help stiffen up the hull sides.  Hopefully your Vacationer interior looks something like this photo ...



I know the 1/4 inch Weekender hull sides will flex without the shelving installed.

Cheers,
Tom