Forestay sag on Bavaria 32 year 2003

[bravado]

Does anyone know how to cure the sag? The backstay is on maximum. Can the forestay be shortened?

[Salty]

Hi, can you explain how you have determined that "the backstay is on maximum" please, as unless someone has replaced the fore stay with one of the wrong length, it seems rather unlikely to me that the boat would have been fitted with a forestay that was too long.

[suibhne]

The forestay tension is also dependent on the port and starboard shroud tensions.
See the Selden rig tuning guide

[Yngmar]

How old is the rig and when has the mast last been restepped? If it has always been sagging, the forestay may have been made too long (unlikely), or the shrouds not properly tensioned. The Furlex has an option for a integral bottlescrew, which permits adjusting forestay length (after taking the drum off and sliding the bottom swivel up, see manual), but even if you have that (unlikely unless retrofitted), you should investigate the cause instead of just curing the symptoms.

It's also possible that the forestay is failing and only hanging on by a few wires which are about to let go (especially with the backstay tensioned). Did you inspect it? The furling foil can hide a lot of damage, but most often the failures occur at the fittings rather than in the middle, unless wire strands have been broken or damaged and are now being unwound inside the foil each time it turns. If the forestay is the original one from 2003, this is a probable scenario.

Lastly, and most unlikely, the hull could have been deformed or the compression post sunk into a compromised keel matrix. Easy to check for the latter - lift the sole boards and check for cracks around the compression post.

Go have a proper look at your boat and then tell us more 

[Symphony]

The backstay has little impact on forestay tension on a fractional rig. It is there to bend the mast to flatten the mainsail. Forestay tension is set primarily by the shrouds as explained in the Selden rig manual.

[Cat2]

Slacken the  lowers and the  diagonals. tighten the  cap shrouds, with the  back stay on to get some  bend.
Then tighten the  lowers to take some of the prebend out, finish of with the  diagonals.
Don't agree that  you  can;t tighten forestay with the  backstay on a fractional rig.
Just  takes a bit of practice setting it up.
Ask a local (successful) racer who has a fractional rig for  advice!

[Craig]

Cat 2 is correct.

I can't see how you can have a slack forestay without the shrouds (side stays) also being slack unless you are commenting on a non-Bavaria yacht.

Some boats do not have swept back spreaders, designed to be lowered quickly to go under bridges etc. Shrouds are inline with the mast. These rigs usually have inner-forestays (baby stays) and require back stays to induce mast bend.

I'm also wondering if you have over-tightened your headsail halyard and the luff of your headsail is taking the tension, rather then the forestay.

Craig
"Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
AUSTRALIA

[bravado]

Slacken the  lowers and the  diagonals. tighten the  cap shrouds, with the  back stay on to get some  bend.
Then tighten the  lowers to take some of the prebend out, finish of with the  diagonals.
Don't agree that  you  can;t tighten forestay with the  backstay on a fractional rig.
Just  takes a bit of practice setting it up.
Ask a local (successful) racer who has a fractional rig for  advice!

Thank you for the suggestions.  I agree with cat 2 and will adjust the cap shrouds as described.  All standing rigging is from the original and the cap shrouds were only adjusted once in 2004.  There is no sign of deck compression or cracks around the post.
The mast  has never been unstepped.  The forestay cable is fine from what you can see with the drum removed.