Measuring Mast Rake

[iainbarlow]

I recently picked up the new boat from Hartleys (SN1275), whilst fettling and tuning I measured the mast rake to add a few settings to the 6000, 6050, 6075 Hartley's had noted and found these were way off.

This made me question how I measure mast rake vs others. I have a ~30m tape with an open plastic loop which I threaded the halyard through, ran up the top of the mast and measured to the edge of the top pintle. Either Hartley's measured it completely off or I'm getting the tape loop beyond the pulley wheel at the top of the mast (where the sail would reach) and to the internal feed. Any thoughts/pointers would be great.

Also side point, the new boats come with narrowed shroud protectors which don't fit the vernier shroud plates. Has anyone else found this and have a solution which doesn't involve new shrouds & protectors?

Thanks,
Iain

[Pete1177]

Iain

I think you are measuring your rake correctly. I wouldn’t assume anything Hartleys do to be correct. It’s better you do it as then you have your own reference point so that you can go back to your start settings if you need to at a future date.

The shroud protectors won’t fit over the Allen verniers properly. You should be able to force them over a bit but they will only go about half way down. You could try a hot air trick I use to connect 25mm electrical conduit connectors to 20mm pipe (they don’t make adaptor couplers). That is to use a hot air gun to soften the covers to make them more pliable then they might fit over the shrouds. I haven’t tried this myself so you do it your own risk!

Pete
SN1177

[iainbarlow]

Thanks Pete.

Measuring mast rake, where would you take the measurement from at the top of the mast? Is it the top of the pulley wheel, highest point the sail reaches or "inlet" of the halyard i.e. beyond the crown of the pulley wheel? This has got me thinking that I'm measuring from the "inlet" of the halyard which is beyond the crown of the pulley wheel. As the first ~50mm of the tape is a plastic loop this actually adds a significant amount to the measurement as the plastic loop points upwards due to the pulley wheel. Interesting thought once you get into it.

My old protectors fit perfectly over the verniers, not only is the cylindrical part of the protector narrower but is tapered into a rectangular opening at the bottom which further narrows the protector vs vernier. This is before I get on to the fact they're white (you'll understand this annoyance when you see the boat ). When I take her to the club this weekend I'll have a play and a think, there's got to be a way. I must prefer the verniers over the standard single line shroud plate.

Another side question, saw on one of your posts/tuning guides reference to your 2:1 calibrated kicker system, how've you rigged this? I had a fairly straight forward 1:1 on 1090 which I can't seem to replicate as well on 1275.

Thanks,
Iain

[Shrimpy]

Two pennies worth:

Surely with an adjustable forestay and hugely variable rake, the single hole line adjusters fitted by Hartleys must be able to provide a suitable setting without the need for half hole adjustment? Keep the half hole adjusters for the lowers where the shortness and angle of the lower shrouds make adjustments way more critical.

As for the measurements your tape may well be going into the halyard hole a bit giving you varying measurements. If you get a 7.5m steel tape and simply use some sticky tape to attach it to the end of the halyard you will get consistant results when the metal bracket on the end of the tape buts up to the halyard pully and can go no further.