rig tuneing

[philip van praag]

the pic on my profile shows the rig set up on our boat quite well
so my question is what is the corect order for tunning the rigging
i have striped the sails of for winter and this lets me look up the mast track and i have a bend in the upper section of the mast
the rig has not been tuned for two years so not suprised
i would like to be able to do this job myself and am happy to perchace the gages but would like some advice as to how to aproch this task?

[GordMay]

See the earlier discussion:

Rig Tension
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...sion-9844.html

Click on “How to use Tension Gauges” ~ from Loos
How*to*use*Tension*Gauges*|*Loos*&*Co.*-*Cableware*Division

See also:
Rig Tune
And:
http://www.riggingandsails.com/pdf/selden-tuning.pdf

[GordMay]

I was chatting with an 'old salt' over the weekend, and he offered this interesting advice:

Rig tension is sensitive to temperature.

The aluminum spar has a different coefficient of thermal expansion that the high nickel stainless shrouds.

So if you set your rig to proper tensions on day one, when it’s cloudy and 70 degrees, and day two is sunny and 88 degrees, you’ll find the tensions have increased the equivalent of a turn or more. It can move you from your light air setting, to a tighter medium air setting.

Check rig tension every day, if the temperatures are varying.