Submitted on September 28, 2004 by Marc Lasserre

Question: I have a Bavaria 32 (2003 model). There is too much slack in the forestay tension even when tightening the backstay. There is no turnbuckle to adjust it. Could you tell me what I could do to remove some of its slack?

Thanks,
Marc

Answer: Hi Marc, I don't have a sailplan for the Bavaria 32. However, since it is a recently designed boat, it likely has spreaders that are swept aft, and shroud chainplates aft of the mast partners (the mast hole in the deck). If this is the case, you could try tightening your side shrouds. When you are sailing upwind in about 10 knots of breeze, tighten the upper shroud and the lower diagonal on the leeward side to take out all the slack. Assuming that your rig is centered and straight when you start out, you should keep track of how many turns you take up on each shroud.

Then tack the boat and take up the same number of turns on the other side. Tighter side shrouds will keep the mast centered and allow the backstay tension to transfer into the headstay.

If your boat has a roller furling headstay system, there is probably a turnbuckle below the furling drum. You will probably have to disconnect the headstay to adjust it, but you might be able to see if there is room for tightening it by looking up at the bottom of the drum.

Regards,
Dan Neri

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