Getting an inner forestay parallel ????

[gjordan]

My mast is down and I am adding a removable inner forestay to my Tartan 34C. I know the distance back from the stem fitting that the deck hardware will mount, but I dont know how high to place the hounds on the mast to have the forestay and inner parallel. I know that this is really only a cosmetic concern but I dont want the boat to look funky. I have looked through Brian Toss books and Ian Nicholson and I cant find a method to determine this. Any suggestions? And, no I am not looking for information on a Solent stay. Thanks, ______Grant.

[Bill O]

If you know your J dimension and your mast height on deck you should be able to determine the angle of the forestay to the mast.

Once you've determined the angle then use the new inner stay distance between mast to calculate the mast height for the hounds. For easy calculations, can use something like this.

Good luck,
Bill O.

[UNCIVILIZED]

The math's pretty simple. Just do it as a fraction of your I, & J measurements. If you made it past Junior High, you should be good. At least as far as the parallel thing goes. The real question is is your mast tube strong enough to take the loads from a haphazardly placed inner forestay? Both fore & aft loads, & transverse ones. With a Solent you don't much need to worry about those, assuming your stay's mounted within a couple of feet of the headstay, & cap shrouds.

Ditto with a staysail stay if it's mounted real close to where you intermediates are. Though in that circumstance it's wise to talk to someone who knows how to ffigure the transverse loads, & whether or not said set of shrouds is up for the job. Plus, in that circumstance there's the question of adding runners.
Especially since the loads on a heavily loaded up staysail/staysail stay can & do approach those seen by headstays. At least in some storm conditions.

So, not the best thing to just guess at. IMO

If you tell us the boat, & all of the rig specifics, it's possible to make some rec's. But for me, even knowing rigging, I'd be shy about putting a stay mid-span on a tube without both doing the math, & getting the input of a couple of professionals.

Do you own, & are you fluent in Brion Toss's The Rigger's Apprentice? It has a fair bit of info that'll help you to calculate much of the above, in order to make wiser, more informed decisions. Ditto some of the bits on rigging in the Dashew's Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia SetSail FPB » Free Books

You might read these too:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ay-127556.html
Adding a Solent Stay - Practical Sailor Print Edition Article

[gjordan]

I will have to dust off the half century old math and see how it turns out. I had read both of the previous threads and there is lots of good info and lots of just plain personal opinion. Since the mast on the Tartan is reasonably heavy and I will have runners anyway, I think it will do fine. The parallel part is just for decent looks and I might not end up there. The inner will normally only be hooked up for passages, so the cosmetic factor is not terribly important, but if possible I will do it that way. The 8 years I sailed my Peterson 44 was almost always as a sloop, but rigged the inner for passages. The staysail didnt get much use. I did snug the runners when going to weather in any sort of chop. I think that a double headsail sloop (Tartan) will be functionally the same. Once I decide on the location of the hounds, the next very important step will be reinforcing the heck out of the chain locker bulkhead. Passing the strain to the hull will be a priority. Thanks for the help. ____Grant.

[Cheechako]

What boat? Look at the sail plan and scale it out. Not sure why you care if it's parallel though. In fact you need to do some designing and determine what is best, I'm guessing you want the fitting on the mast high up.

[gjordan]

The most logical location would be to install the hounds at the height of the head of the double reefed main. I will do the geometry and see how that compares. A large sheet of drafting/graph paper is in my near future.______Grant.