Putting rig to winter rest

[vladkri]

Hello,

Is there benefit from reducing rig tensioning for the winter? Couple turns each shroud/stay maybe? The boat is on cradle, mast up.

Thanks

[Mirage35]

I reduce tension on the shrouds by enough that they "almost" feel loose. Logic is that the tension required to counter a loaded sail is not necessary, and with them loosened it acts more like a guyed antenna tower (for example) where the tension only increases when wind load increases. This negates one of the frequent objections to leaving the mast up over winter - stress on the rig.

There will be other opinions.

[Dockhead]

Sure, but what about cyclical loading? Loose rig will work more in the wind; that wears them out. I wouldn't, personally, loosen anything.

[sesmith]

Agreed. With the boat on a cradle there's nothing to absorb the forces unlike a boat in the water. Loosening the rig can make matters worse. I ran that very same question by the riigging guy who I have inspect my rigging. He said the same.

[Searles]

Harmonic’s is main cause of failure in s/s rigging ,laiving the rig up on the hard stand even if slackened slightly ,will just increase the problem ,the only way to safely store a rig is out of the vsl lying down under cover ,this is the best ,everyone will have a different option on this ,but 60 yrs in the trade I have picked up a few things ⛵️⚓️