shroud tightners

[mga1951]

Hi Everyone,
Yes, like Ron says, winter came early here in central ohio. :(
But our Buckeyes still beat Michigan!! :)
My wife and I do alot of traveling with our boat and I am looking at these
Quick Release Shroud Levers from West Marine.
There is 1 for 500lbs and 1 for 1500lbs of pressure.
Any thoughts/ideas of what anyone out there might have or have used before.
Also if you know of another source to buy them from.
Thanks for the help.

[CaptainScott]

With all do respect and asbsolute concerm,
I fail to understand why you need quick disconnect shrouds.

Please understand I have a limited perspective and do not wish any ill feellings but why disconnect the shrouds?

On both my 75 and my 76 I see no reason to ever disconnect the shrouds on a regular basis.

I simply drop the mast by disconnecting the forstay and leaving the aft stay and shrouds as is. When we travel via trailer, I bungee all parts and pieces to be snug.

Again, please educate me. Why disconnect the shrouds?

Thanks for the input!

an always learning, and frugal,
Captain Scott

[ronc98]

you have to on a c26 or the mast will not drop. I beleive it is the same on the c22

[Banshi]

Ever bend a piece of metal back and forth, eventually it fails. I think leaving them on means bending the shroud hardware even more than it already is lowering and raising the mast. Also the shrouds are going to vibrate in the wind as you go down the road and cause additional wear. I go an extra step of putting the extra shroud and stay length that stick out about 2 feet past the base of the mast, when in the stowed position, into a piece of 4" PVC with a cap on it to keep them straight, secure and dry. Just my four cents.....................

[CaptainScott]

Ah! and the lights come on!
Thanks!

Scott

[ronc98]

It is a good ideal but I wonder what everyone feels about the load limits? While 1500 sounds like alot of load is it really when you compare it to the loads the mast takes when in heavy wind. The last thing you would want is a demasting.

I am waiting for windward or EE to chime in.

[Banshi]

If you look a the aluminum angle that takes the load of the shrouds it's hard to imagine them handling more than 1500 lbs before failing.

[EmergencyExit]

EE will defer to Windward on the subject of high mast loads !

I do wonder as well tho, how much wear and tear one puts on the turnbuckles of the rig by loosening and tightening frequently them when trailer sailing often ? That might factor into the question as well ?

[lecker68]

On my Getatway It only requires headstay and forward lower shrouds disconnected to lower mast and then I remove shrouds and backstay by removing pins 5 min. 10 if I take a break and 5 min before the mast comes down. I don't really trust quick release as my luck would be they would release when I am heeled at 40 or 50 degrees.

[Windward]

Been kinda busy -- work, family, boat work... you know the drill.

Yup, on the 26 I just slack all shrouds and headstay, disconnect forward lowers and headstay and mast is good to come down. Not sure the quick discos save you much time when you already have to remove the boom and various bits of running rigging. Yanking the pins doesn't take long, and you could use well-taped split rings instead of cotters to save even more time. I don't disco the others, just slack them and secure them in a way that leaves no sharp bends or chafing.

My concern with quick discos would be the "surprise" scenario that lecker68 mentions, plus overall strength. Std tuning scenario for the uppers is starting around 15% of breaking strength, with a max of 25%.

For stainless 316 1x19 in 3/16 (stock C26 uppers, fwd lowers and headstay) I think the nominal tensile is around 4000#, so 15% is around 600# and 25% is about 1000#. If the 1500# is rated working load, you're probably OK, but if it's minimum tensile that's too low.

WRT the aluminum angle, the angle's not the problem, it's the way it's secured to the lower regions of the hull. It's wildly underbraced to begin with, and an upgrade there should be a first step for anyone wanting to tune their C26 rig. Many C-26s experience deck hogging, where the shroud tension actually pulls the deck up some. Starboard side is especially vulnerable. Windward's deck had such damage when I got her, and I still need to get into some spider cracks with epoxy when time and wx permit.

I reinforced (for now) with some mini-bulkheads between settee back, deck underside and hull, plus a couple of big chunks of aluminum securing it to the settee and hull liner. A better fix might be to glass padeyes to the hull, inside the settee, then run turnbuckles down, but this works for me for now.

[Windward]

If the turnbuckles are properly antiseized or greased, I don't think repeated tensioning and loosening will hurt them any. Perhaps if you were doing so every day, but typically it's not necessary to turn them very hard to achieve adequate tension, and with proper lube they should last many years without significant wear. Crevice corrosion is probably more a concern than wearing out the threads or compromising strength that way.

That said, I've been replacing Windward's turnbuckles whenever I replace standing rigging, since they are original equipment and she did not have an easy life before I got her. Based on all the weak points in the original rigging, it's a wonder I didn't get dismasted years ago.

[ronc98]

Windward,

I would love to see some pictures of your chainplate reinforcments. I think I am pretty covered with mine but I can always use more ideas.