Is our mast supposed to be straight?

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blair's picture
blair
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Is our mast supposed to be straight?

A sailing instructor was visiting my marina the other day and complimented me on my new boat.

He then asked me if my mast was supposed to be straight or bent back a little.

Of course, I had no idea. He told me my mast was bent back a little. I walked up to the base of the mast, looked up, and sure enough, it was bent back a little.

He said that was normal for his boat, but wasn't sure if it was the way my boat is supposed to be set up.

Since I have a tabernacle mast, i can tweak it pretty easily to make it straight up or bent back a little.

When i had it surveyed, i had the original rigger who did the conversion check it out. He said everything looked fine.

There are visual marks on the rigging that i set it to after i raise the mast back up. When i dial it in to these markings, the mast does tilt back a little. Is this normal, or do i need to get the rigger back out here to set this up so mast is straight?

Blair White
2004 C36 MKII # 2169 "Dash"
Pacific Beach, CA

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Nimue
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'Rake' is the proper term for a mast leaning back. Typically you want a little bit of aft rake. The rake controls the helm balance (if the wheel loads up a lot when sailing upwind you may want less rake, but I think this is not likely with a furling main). If you want to see some real rake, find a J/boat in your marina. Most of them when set up correctly measure the rake by how many FEET the mast tip is behind the base.

Jason V
Vancouver, BC, Canada

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blair
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Rake, got it.

That J Boat is what that sailing instructor had.

Thanks.

Blair White
2004 C36 MKII # 2169 "Dash"
Pacific Beach, CA

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mogline
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Are you asking about rake or prebend? Rake is essentially the overall angle of the mast relative to the horizon. You control rake with a combination of forestay and backstay (loosen forestay-take up backstay to rake back, etc.). Raking back increases weather helm. Prebend involves bowing the mast back into a slight curve. You induce prebend when tuning the mast. The C36 mast section is pretty stiff but can be prebent by loosening the aft lowers, then taking up both the forward lowers and the backstay. A little prebend helps to prevent the mast from pumping. Prebend also affects the shape of the main so check with your sailmaker if unsure about how much.

Mike Ogline
SHADOW #1831
2000 SR/WK
Deltaville - Chesapeake Bay

hilbre
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Posts: 218

If you have an in-mast mainsail, the mast should be straight.
John Meyer

John Meyer
Hilbre
C36 MKll, Hull 2135

Cabrillo Marina, San Pedro, CA

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gforaker
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Since I think you said that you have fairly loose lower shrouds, you would have little pre-bend and the mast should be fairly straight with little bend. The C36 should have little rake. If the mast is raked aft, then that would tend to give you severe weather helm. That means in moderate to higher winds the boat would want to round up into the wind and you would be fighting the wheel.

Since you have a very non-standard rig, all bets are off and the previous owner might have given it some rake to counter some difference in your rig. The only way to tell for sure is to go sailing in winds over 15kt and check for excessive weather (or lee) helm. I like to have around 1/4 turn of the wheel weather helm in 15 to 18 kt of wind when going up wind with no reef. Most of us with standard masts don't feel the need to reef the main until around 20 kt.

Gene Foraker
Sandusky Yacht Club
Sandusky, OH
1999  C36  #1786
Gypsy Wagon

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blair
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Called the rigger today who did the tabernacle, and he is going to come look at it next week.

Thanks for the input.

Blair White
2004 C36 MKII # 2169 "Dash"
Pacific Beach, CA

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