Tightening(and keeping tight) shrouds

[csoule13]

Last season was my first season w/ my CD27. One thing I noticed before hauling out for the winter is that the forward starboard shroud had worked itself loose. Like, flopping around loose.

I'm away for the boat for the remainder of the spring, but it's the first thing I want to resolve when I take the winter cover off. How does one go about not only getting these tight, but keeping them that way? It's not a problem I've run into on my Dad's Ericson, so it's a bit of a head scratche

Thx!

[Tom Keevil]

Once you get it tightened, you should insert a cotter pin into the hole found in the turnbuckle threads. This will keep it from unwinding. The cotter pins can snag things, so some people use split rings instead. We use a machine screw with an acorn nut held on with Locktite.

[Bill Goldsmith]

As Tom mentioned, some turnbuckles can unwind themselves under load, especially if they are well lubricated. Many people use cotter pins and tape them with rigging tape to avoid snagging, but I am intrigued by the machine screw/acorn nut alternative.

If this is the only shroud that keeps loosening, you may also want to inspect everything from the mast tang to the deck, including the swages, the wire rope, and the deck padeyes (CD version of chainplates). Be sure there are no failure points. If the swages are failing, they can start to pull out.

[mashenden]

And not meaning to be a negative Nellie, but another reason that shrouds could appear to loosen can be the cabin top sinking. We have seen that more on Typhoons, but not knowing how the mast is stepped on a CD-27 or what is under it, I thought I would mention it.

[Paul D.]

Another reason for shroud loosening over the course of a season could be wire rope stretch if the wire is new.

I would definitely check the cabin top for any deflection though too. My Typhoon had that cabin sag. We felt with that by installing a basement jack and oak compression post with cabin top spreader.

[Steve Laume]

Everyone brought up some very good points. What I took note of is that only one wire seemed to have loosened. If it was wire stretch or a sinking cabin top, then all of the wires would have probably have become slack. I know that cabin deflection is pretty common in Typhoons but I have not noticed any complaints with the CD-27. That doesn't completely rule out this possibility but it is unlikely. When I replaced all the rigging wire on Raven, it might have stretched a bit but it was not noticeable. It was certainly not enough to leave one shroud flopping.

Without knowing how the rig was tensioned at the beginning of the season it is hard to say how much it loosened up. I do know that when most yards put the rig back in they just tension things up to somewhere near close. When I had the rig put back by Brownell they were amendment that I not leave it for long without getting some form of locking in place. Whenever the rig goes back in, I check it with a Loos gauge and tune it up. I also check the tension before any major trip, along with carefully inspecting all of the fittings. Barring a pad eye coming loose, a swedge failing or the backing plate failing, it seems like that one shroud might have started out loose and then got worse. The key here is whether the turnbuckle was locked in place.

I have used bronze cotter pins to lock the turnbuckles but now prefer to use stainless safety wire. I can run it through the hole in the adjusting screw and around the turnbuckle then twist it up and tuck the end inside the body. There really isn't any need to tape it on the CD-30. It is very easy to snip the wire and pull it out if I need to adjust anything.

Without knowing how tight each wire was when you start each season or trip, it is hard to tell if or how much anything has changed. Lots of people will claim to be able to tune a rig by sound or feel but I like the idea of using a gauge and having numbers to go by, Steve.

[csoule13]

Thanks everyone. Gives me a few things to focus my eyeballs on when I get to the boat in June. The loose shroud was like that when I purchased the boat, and just something I tightened up on occasion throughout the season. With a slightly shorter to-do list during the summer, I can focus here.

As always, much appreciated.