Posted by Jose Jimenez (sailwithed@…>)
I sail a Freedom 38, but this question applies to anyone using a
camberspar. My question: how tight should the forestay be? I’ve
heard from one source (Freedom Yachts) that the stay should be quite
loose. I’ve heard from another source (a CamberSpar document) that the
stay should be quite tight. Does anyone actually know (as opposed to
have heard) how tight to actually set the stay?
Ed Cale
F38-154 Free Spirit
Posted by rick_simonds (rick_simonds@…>)
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Jose Jimenez”
<sailwithed@…> wrote:
I sail a Freedom 38, but this question applies to anyone using a
camberspar. My question: how tight should the forestay be? I’ve
heard from one source (Freedom Yachts) that the stay should be
quite
loose. I’ve heard from another source (a CamberSpar document) that
the
stay should be quite tight. Does anyone actually know (as opposed
to
have heard) how tight to actually set the stay?Ed Cale
F38-154 Free Spirit
I had a long, enjoyable conversation with Dave Berig, the inventor of
the sail, when I ordered my new sail from him. I asked him about
headstay tension.
According to him:
Headstay tension in a Camberspar jib acts like the sheet car position
on a conventional jib. Tightening a Camberspar jib’s headstay loosens
the jib’s leech, like moving the sheet lead car of a conventional jib
aft. Loosening the headstay tightens the jib’s leech, like moving the
lead of a conventional jib forward. Certainly you cannot change the
tension in the headstay as easily as you can move a sheet car on a
track, you must set it to an “average” position. It will almost
certainly end up being very, very loose compared to a conventional
headstay.
My real-world implementation of his advice was to first study the
curve of the jib’s leech in relation to the curve of the main,
especially about 1/3 of the way down from the top. The curves should
match, the gap between the sails should be uniform along the entire
length. If the top of the jib is closer to the mainsail than the
bottom, the leech is too tight and you should loosen the headstay. If
the top is farther away, tighten the headstay.
Then, if you want to tweak to perfection, go out a few times in
whatever you consider to be your “normal” sailing conditions and tack
a lot, watching the luff of the jib as you began the tack.
Conventional wisdom has it that conventional sheet lead cars should
be set so that the entire luff should “break” (begin to luff) along
its whole length, all at the same time, as you begin to tack.
Luffing first in the upper portion means that a conventional lead
should be moved forward or it means a Camberspar headstay should be
loosened. Luffing first in the lower portion means that a
conventional lead should be moved aft or the Camberspar headstay
should be tightened. Tweak the tension until you’re happy. (I
actually disagree with the conventional wisdom. I think an overly
tight leech should be avoided so I think the upper portion of any jib
should break just slightly ahead of the lower portion and set my
headstay tension appropriately.)
Having said all that, if you’re looking for a more general answer,
with the sail down, when I wiggle my (Hoyt 32) headstay with my hand
at shoulder height, the midpoint of the headstay whips back and forth
about 8 inches.
Rick
Tallahassee
Posted by ptecca63 (paul.tecca@…>)
Hi Ed,
I am a new Freedom owner. I just took ownership of a 1993 F35 which
has a camberspar jib. The previous owner of my F35 was quite
experienced with the Freedom rig and he made a point of letting me
know that the forestay should have about 8 to 10 inches of play.
That is how my F35 is currently rigged and she performs well. I
know the prior owner put a lot of miles on the boat with her rigged
this way. Also, we sailed her from North Carolina to Rhode Island
and on more than one occasion were forced to run on camberspar jib
alone in following seas with 30 knot winds. The rig handled it just
fine. So I feel confident that it is safe as well.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Paul
F35 Midnight Star