Trademarks on the tensioner
Whether the shrouds are well adjusted only becomes apparent when there is a little more wind with pressure in the sails on an upwind course. If the mast is then straight and the lee shrouds are not loose, the trim is correct. We usually have to make some adjustments until everything is just right. How nice it would be to avoid this effort in the coming season. That's why we marked the position of the thread in the tensioner as soon as we found a good rigging trim. We used some rigging twine to mark the turn above and below the tensioner.
However, the prerequisite for this is that the threads are screwed evenly into the tensioner. In other words, they are not screwed on more at the bottom than at the top. That way, one side would have a few threads ahead and this inaccuracy would be difficult to reproduce next year. Accordingly, we simply unscrew the tensioners completely in order to knock the shrouds off in autumn and put them back on evenly up to the mark in spring.
Bea Wissen, by e-mail
Corks in the Püttingen
When we raise the mast on our small cruiser, we attach the upper and lower shrouds to the shrouds. The only possible problem with this procedure is that the loosely hanging shroud tensioners get jammed on the shrouds and then bend when the mast is raised. To avoid this, we have kept four champagne corks. These fit into the shroud iron after a little work with a knife when the tensioner is already attached.
Rüdiger Marwede, Neustadt
Support for the cover tube
Our rigging screws are protected by aluminium tubes. To change the rig trim, these covers are pushed upwards and release the tensioning screws. Quickly fixed with adhesive tape, the tube can come loose and slip down again. The same applies to clothes pegs. That's why we cut a spacer out of a cutting board. It has to be longer than the diameter of the aluminium tube. A slit is cut into the piece that is slightly wider than the diameter of the wire. Place it over the tensioner on the wire and you're done.
Ulrich Lange, by e-mail
Rig trim with the spring balance
In order to set the mast absolutely straight before trimming, we use not only the main halyard or the dirk as a distance gauge to the deck edge, but also a simple spring balance. We place this between the halyard and the jib fitting. The tension on the halyard is set so that about half the measuring range of the scale is utilised. The mast is now aligned with the help of the shrouds and the scales are hooked in alternately to port and starboard. As soon as it shows the same value on both sides of the ship, the rig is level.
Horst Arndorfer, Vienna/Austria
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