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Jeff.

Hope you don't mind all these dumb questions Jeff.
I have opened another thread to make this easier.
I have a retired friend, a long time yachtie, come over and help me set the boat up.
Everything went well, except for the following questions he has.

1. the back wire: there is a plate on it, plus 2x pulley's. We worked out the plate would not work so used the pulleys. Did you ever use the plate to secure this wire? (not working well for us when we attached the plate- too much tension on the mast, so went back to using just the pulleys)

2. the mast has a slight backward bow above the spreaders. He says that is common on racing boats, but asked if this was correct for us. (he dosn't think we can tension the furler to straighten it)

3. the square black locking block, on the starboard side, just outside the winch.....what did you put thru that?

He was very impressed with the condition and fit-out of the boat. Insists on coming out with me when we get it in the water.
Cheers
Phillip

the mast has a slight backward bow above the spreaders. He says that is common on racing boats, but asked if this was correct for us. (he dosn't think we can tension the furler to straighten it)

Might want to read a bit on rig tuning.

It is my understanding that tha M is a fractional??
If so the forestay isnt the right place to start if upper mast bend is your issue.

forestay controls mast rake

Lowers control lower mast lee sag and to a degree lee bend, (if thats an accurate term) They are different.

Uppers control upper mast lee sag and contribute to Mid to lower mast bend (fore/ aft) and they control forestay tension.

Back stay contributes to mid to upper mast bend (fore /aft) and helps control forestay sag, With no backstay your uppers would take this responsibility INMO.

Philip - the mast bend is part of the equation but you should search the thread on this (make sure you check the 'search all terms' box - the Performance and Tuning section would be the best place to look.

Phillip wrote:Jeff.

1. the back wire: there is a plate on it, plus 2x pulley's. We worked out the plate would not work so used the pulleys. Did you ever use the plate to secure this wire? (not working well for us when we attached the plate- too much tension on the mast, so went back to using just the pulleys)

2. the mast has a slight backward bow above the spreaders. He says that is common on racing boats, but asked if this was correct for us. (he dosn't think we can tension the furler to straighten it)

3. the square black locking block, on the starboard side, just outside the winch.....what did you put thru that?

He was very impressed with the condition and fit-out of the boat. Insists on coming out with me when we get it in the water.
Cheers
Phillip

1. I used the pulleys for the back stay, helped when connecting the forestay and can be used to quickly adjust mast rake in higher winds. The "plate" is the old adjuster that I suppose I never cut off. It is not needed in any case.

2. It sounds like the spreader tension needs to be adjusted. I am not very knowledgeable on rig tension, but there are good articles and many here are much better at that than I. There was an article in the featured articles section. The boat is a fractional rig so only listen to things relating to that type. Do a search here as well and read all you can on that topic.

3. That block is for the mainsail halyard. Run the mainsail halyard through the turning block at the base, then another 90 turning block just to the starboard side of the mast then straight back through that clutch. Lift the brake up to insert it, then close that, you will be able to pull the mainsail up from the cockpit and the halyard won't slip back. If you want to release it, simply lift up the lever.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Jeff[/quote]