Hi all, We've recently been given a Catalac 8m. The mast was taken off and new backtays put on. We've renewed the running rigging and are going to be putting the mast back up soon. What I'd like to know is:- 1) What is the best mast rake? 2) What tensions should I apply to the various shrouds & stays?
The boat has; forestay, with roller reefing headsail, inner forestay/baby stay, cap shrouds, inner shrouds, twin backstays.
My normal default is about 5 degrees aft rake
Comments
We have a 8m the sail area is fairly small for the size of boat and weight . I don't think you will find mast rake has much effect . If your new rigging is the same as original the rake will not have much more than a few degrees of adjustment. A doghouse might have more effect if you take the mast back much pulling the main in tight will find the boom scraping the dog house! Depending on the rudder arrangement ,drop downs, fixed, fixed with skegs.
You might find when the wind gets up to 6 or 7 drop down on both 8 and 9 m can have a fair bit of weather helm
I have altered our drop down rudder to have more balance by taking a little of the back and added 1 3/4inch on the leading edge, which has eased the weather helm to a point where swmbo can actually control the helm in a 7
A few hours in a 7 on the helm can lead to forearms like Popeye.