Forums, Mast, Rigging and Sails, Fore stay lenght

Zoom 495 at 07/06/2015 00:37:26
Hello all. I preparation for installing my headsail furler, I need to get a new fore stay made.
In the tuning guide on this site (Contessa confessions), the correct fore stay length is given as a measurement obtained by using the genoa halyard cleated off at a point where the tip of the snap shackle is at the top of the spar band that is at the goose neck. My 1977 Kemp mast with roller boom reefing has no spar band on it.
Does someone have a measurement that would indicate where that spar band would be? ie if the boom were to be parallel to the waterline, how far above a line extrapolated from the top of the boom would that band be?
When I hang a weight from the main halyard the mast appears to have no rake so I am thinking the fore stay I presently have is a tad short.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you from the west coast of Canada,kris

Silver Harmony at 08/06/2015 21:54:11
Hi Kris,

the sail plan drawing in the technical area (http://www.co32.org/Section_TECHNICAL/DRAWINGS/CO32_SAIL_PLAN.pdf) shows the Kemp spars and the location of the black bands.

I replaced my furler & forestay last winter. I have a note of what the forestay length was but it is on the boat – I will check for you next time I am on board. I think I made the new forestay slightly shorter than the old one and my perception is that this has reduced weather helm but I can’t quantify that.

The Furlex 207S that I fitted had an option to include a rigging screw in the lower assembly to allow the forestay length to be adjusted after installation. My rigging supplier recommended including it and I would too. It has an adjustment range of about 65 mm which gives you a margin for measurement and installation errors and allows some tweaking. You can also make coarse adjustments by adding extra toggles at the bottom of the stay.

Mast rake is also affected by the position of the mast foot. My mast foot is retained by a transverse pin which sits in a comb on the mast step. By locating the pin between different teeth of the comb the rake can be altered. However a crane is required to lift the mast to change the setting so I have never experimented with it.

I think measuring the rake using a hanging weight is not very accurate because the result will be affected by the fore & aft trim of the boat.

If your boat is well balanced just now my advice (which is worth as much as you are paying for it!) would be to make the new forestay the same length as the existing one and get a furler with a rigging screw so you can tweak it later. If you think a longer forestay would be better you could also try adding a toggle to your current forestay, and see if the boat sails any better, before you specify the new one.

Robert.

Richard Ritchie at 08/06/2015 21:59:28
I suggest you also think about how you will get the anchor in and out of the hawse. Some people (me included) have raised the furler in order to allow easy access to the hawse. This of course shortens the actual forestay length, and potentially genoa luff length as well.

Silver Harmony at 09/06/2015 07:19:48
Good point Richard, my furler is also raised to clear the anchor. Mine is done using two stainless steel plates with clevis pins but you could just use extra toggles.

moongirl at 10/06/2015 19:43:13
Is your boat Canadian built? If so the mast will be taller than UK built boats!

Zoom 495 at 12/06/2015 15:51:00
Hello all, and thanks for the responses.
And although I am almost as far west as you can get in Canada, my Contessa is indeed British. So perhaps Zoom is helping to put the British in British Columbia.
I believe elsewhere in this forum I have stumbled upon a set of measurements for height of furling drum above tack fitting for anchor clearance as well as luff length for a furling genoa. So with all that info, I will start my project this weekend. I like the idea of a rigging screw in the fore stay to change the length if need be as since I will have a new sail made, the balance of the boat will be different than it is now with old worn out head sails.
Thanks again everyone for the input. It is so much easier to do this kind of work with help,kris

Silver Harmony at 15/06/2015 08:33:12
Hi Kris,

for reference, my original forestay length on a Jeremy Rogers built Contessa, before the furler was fitted, was 11.683 metres.

Good luck with the installation,

Robert.

Zoom 495 at 19/06/2015 01:24:18
Thank you for that info Robert.
I would think that fore stay length also would vary depending on where the mast is set on it`s step. Does anyone know what the step arrangement looks like with the mast off? I assume it can move fore and aft.
Thanks again everyone for your kind assistance.kris

Silver Harmony at 13/07/2015 19:56:47
Hi Kris,

I’ve no photos of my mast step but here are a couple of the foot of my mast. The horseshoe shaped slot in the base casting fits over a rack that looks like a comb on it’s back. The clevis pin fits between the teeth of the comb. The fore-aft position of the foot can (I think – I’ve never tried it!) be adjusted by moving the pin up and down the rack but you need a crane to lift the mast to adjust it.

Contessa 32 mast foot – side view by Robert Fox, on Flickr

Contessa 32 mast foot – bottom view by Robert Fox, on Flickr

Robert.

Zoom 495 at 01/08/2015 16:47:04
Hello Robert,
I have been away working and only just now getting a chance to thank you for those photos. And all of the info you have supplied me with. I hope to have the furler fitted by the end of summer. And for now it is just sailing and sun!!!
Thanks again,kris