J/29 Tuning Guide

by Will Keyworth, Henri Little, and Stu Johnstone

Your J/29 rig has been designed to be strong, simple, easy-to-care-for, and easy to tune. Proper rig preparation will ensure you of a hassle-free and fast sailing season. Read these instructions thoroughly as it will prevent unnecessary headaches later, prolonging both the life of your sails and rigging, and will get you around the course faster.

Equipment- To make your rigging and tuning job go quicker be sure you have the following handy:

• crescent wrenches
• phillips and slot head screwdrivers
• needle nose and regular pliers
• vice grips
• wire cutters
• tap and die set
• drill and drill bits
• hacksaw
• round and flat files
• pop rivet gun and 3/16" rivets
• hammer
• center punch
• measurement tape-50' and pencil
• duct tape, white rigging tape, white elect. tape
• cotter pins
• electrical kit- connectors
• silicone
• seizing wire

Before Stepping Mast

Be sure that all sharp edges on mast hardware are filed smooth. Look at spreader ends , spreader root, mast lights, blocks and exit sheave gages.

Silicone all cotter pins on mast and tape thoroughly. Silicone leading edge of spreader root on mast to prevent both halyards from getting pinched and the headsail from ripping Put Black rubber plugs into holes above Gibb T-terminal shroud connections.Fit mast collar ring and sponge rubber mast collar gasket ring (both with flanges down on the mast Ensure all halyards are properly run along with check stays, pole lift and boom topping lift.

Install Windex or other apparent wind angle devices, mount on backstay crane and wire light if plan to do night sailing Install and wire mast for electronics equipment. Be sure to run and extra wire up the mast at this time, will save you aggravation later should you want to add mare mast electronics, antennas, etc...

Check head stay length and ensure toggle is attached, this will give proper amount of rake.

The Fractional rig should have 15" or so of rake, measured behind the mast on the cabin trunk with a plumb dropped from the main halyard. Otherwise, check the head stay turnbuckle barrel, only 1" of thread or less should show inside either end.

The Masthead rig should have a head stay length of at least 41'1" pin-to-pin. This will ensure the boat will be balanced correctly for most conditions.

Fit head-foil or other Luff-Groove headsail system. Ensure that luff entry for jibs is at least 3 feet up head stay, this will make changing headsail easier.

Check the position of your mast-step. It should be as far aft as possible:

The fractional rig mast step should be set the limit aft in the factory holes. This will induce lower mast bend and give the pre-bend needed for the mainsail to set correctly. Unless, of course, you happen to sail Buzzards or San Francisco Bay, then you want the mast step at the limit forward to stiffen the mast down low.

The masthead rig mast step should be as far aft as possible to induce lower mast bend and to give the pre-bend needed for the mainsail to set correctly, this also induces the head stay to sag with no backstay tension. Boats with fore-peak options should cut wood faceplate above aluminum "I" beam mast-step so mast step can go back to bulkhead. New holes need to be drilled to affix the step aft.

Stepping the Mast

Remember to have someone below deck when the mast is lowered through the mast partner to put the bottom half of the deck ring on (flange up) before it drops onto the step. Otherwise you'll have to pull the mast up again.

After Stepping the Mast

Connect all stays with turnbuckles fully extended. Hand tighten shrouds.

Caution-Don't try to drill the holes in the deck for the mast collar before you're ready to do so.

Center the mast head athwart ships by holding the centerline jib halyard under even tension out to a point on either rail, outside the chain plates and equidistant from bow. Hand tighten mast into column.

For the Fractional Rig, tighten the rig form the bottom up. Take up even turns on the lowers until the mast begins to invert. Then poll-down hard on the backstay purchase so the upper shrouds loosen considerably. Take up even turns on the uppers, then release the backstay to check straightness of mast. Double-check position of mast head with centerline jib halyard.

Set your rig tension for moderate winds and ensure your head stay has the 1" of turnbuckle screw exposed within the barrel, this will give you enough leeway to loosen the head stay for lighter airs and tighten it for a breeze. Check rig tension with a "Loos Tension Gauge" They should read:

For the masthead rig tighten the rig first with the upper shrouds. Take up even turns until you get approximately 2000 lbs., Double-check position of mast head with centerline jib halyard.

Tighten intermediates evenly to approximately 400lbs. These may need adjustment after sailing to simply keep the mast in column. Tighten backstay so bridle blocks return within 6" of the connector plate when released.

Finishing Off -Tape all turnbuckles thoroughly after cotter-pinning the shrouds. It's preferable to install a turnbuckle boot over the upper shrouds as this will prevent chafe on the foot of the jibs and will also make the jib run freer during tacks.

Wedge the mast in the hole to ensure a straight mast sideways.

Now drill the holes through the mast collar casting. If your drill cannot be held vertical, get a flexible extender with smaller chuck housing or drill from underneath.

Be sure to place the small triangles on either side of the bottom collar with the bolts provided to couple the upper and lower collars. Finally, drill through the mast to connect the two triangles which locks the deck to the mast.

After sailing in a good breeze for 10-15 hours be sure to re-tune your rig as you will have to compensate for wire stretch.