Tuning the First 285

[Larry Ford]

I am a new owner of a First 285 and I amlooking for rig tuning/mast rake advise. Any suggestions would be appreciated.Larry yachta yachta yachta

[John Bremer]

The layman's method is to take a stiff halyard, run it to a common point on each side of the mast (ie. deck rigging mount), measure the distance to port and then compare to starboard. - adjust the rigging to "center the mast". The, use a mid-mast line and do the same for the intermediate shrouds. The goal is to make the mast perpendicular to the boat without any bend between starboard and port. Lengthwise, I have very little rake in the mast and it sits fairly perpendicular (maybe 2 or 3 degrees of rake). The most important here is mast bend through the rear stay tension. There's a lot of guidance on tensioning, but a rule of thumb is higher wind: higher tension. The more bend, the more depowering and the higher the point. Always release pressure downwind (bend and throughout all rigging). You have too much bend in the mast when you see slight folds in the sail that are parallel to the leach. I know I missed a bunch, so let me know your thoughts. Also, a great weekend course is provided by North Sails that covers generic rig tuning. Good luck! John

[John Nantz]

In addition to the suggestions of the previous post another item to consider is the current helm; i.e., if there is a tendence toward weather or lee helm. Since every boat is just a little bit different with regard to the position of the mast, keel, and rudder, a few inches/centimeters different in the location of any of these can alter the helm slightly. Therefore, if more weather helm is desired then the mast should be raked a bit more and for lee helm a bit less.Also, a backstay adjuster is a highly recommended addition to improve windward performance if the boat isn't already equipped with one.