Side Stay Fixings....

Does anyone use bottle screws for sidestay and forestay fixings, and if not, why not... after all, they offer rapid stay tension adjustment, and don't weigh that much..

Cheers,

Burl

I know that Highfield levers are not allowed and forestay/shroud tension must not be altered whilst racing so some may view bottlescrews as being out of class as they would facilitate changing rig tension whilst racing.

Obviously OK if you are not racing..



Edited by - shampton on 16 February 2007 22:55:04

There is nothing in the rules that excludes fitting bottle screws as far as i can see. The rules do exclude the adjustment of the rig during racing, not between. I woould suggest thatif anyone is going to alter bottle screws during a race they likely to be going backwards! they are fiddly to adjust, it is far more important to concentrate on sailing.

I guess you are allowed to carry a paddle while racing, but not to use it or risk getting disqualified, so why not have the bottle screws?? They would all trust us at club level anyway - it'd be pretty obvious to see if someone was messing around with a rig gauge and the sidestays anyhow!

Burl

There are no rules on bottlescrews, the only rule that will apply is no adjustment of the rig whilst racing, as Trev says adjustment is only allowed between races.

In terms of adjustment it would be difficult as the forstay holds the tension rather than the jib. Although it may be possible to work a pulley system and more interest may be shown now we have a bermudan rig, as it may be more beneficial to this rig.

As to using bottle screws I would not use them on the shrouds as it will be hard to measure each one to check the mast is upright, a chain plate each side will be far easier. For the forstay there is no reason you cannot use a bottle screw, I used one on my Miracle, the argument against using a bottle screw is weight.

Cheers

Paul