S21 mast

Posted By: Glen / S-21 "Winterdream"
Date: 6/5/08 7:38a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: raised up mast on santana21 finaily (wilf)

Wilf, The forestay, if original length, is probably not too short. The backstay is probably too tight (short). I leave my forestay adjustment alone, and lower the mast by slacking only the back stay, and the port side stays. That makes it easier to raise the mast next time, since only a few things need to be re-tightened. Of course this only works if the mast was properly tuned (stays & shrouds properly adjusted) in the first place. If the back stay and forestay are correct, the mast will be vertical. This may be hard to determine on the trailer. Try to eyeball the mast as vertical vs the waterline. Turnbuckles on my S21 have the threads extending into the central area of the turnbuckle, where they are pinned through a hole in the threaded rods (cotter pins). My lower shrouds, and my aft lowers both tie into a 2-hole tang at the spreaders, thus making it clear which is which. The aft lowers obviously attach to the aft hole in the 2-hole tang. But now that you've got them correct, you never actually need to release the turnbuckles completely. Just slacken them to lower the mast. And be careful the wires don't snag on anything while shifting the mast fore / aft for stowage. It all gets easier with practice. Good luck.