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41

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Josh Jones on May 29, 2026, 03:41:13 PM »

Also on windy days MORE rake is recommended (meaning the mast is raked back farther), this would result in a *shorter* measurement to the transom.  But you have *more* rake.

42

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Josh Jones on May 29, 2026, 03:38:46 PM »

How tight the jib halyard block and tackle assembly is adjusted has secondary/minimal effect on the mast rake.  The length of the block and tackle assembly is simply dependent on the length of the jib halyard.  How tight you want to pull the jib halyard block and tackle is dependent on the wind strength, whether you want any wrinkles in the jib luff and how much curvature you want in the jib luff.  Pulling the block and tackle assembly tight results in the belly of the jib moving toward the luff, reduces the wrinkles in the jib luff and reduces the curvature in the jib luff...all resulting in depowering the jib.  Having the block and tackle assembly too loose results in wrinkles at the luff, the belly moved back and more curvature in the jib luff.  Experience will tell you where the proper jib halyard tension settings are for low, medium and high wind.  Mast rake can primarily be adjusted via: 1) the length of a fixed forestay, 2) the length of the upper furler pigtail, or 3) an adjustable forestay.  Recommended mast rake is between 34'9" and 35'.  On windy days, typically less mast rake is desired.  On low to moderate wind days, typically more mast rake is desired.  Mast rake cannot be adjusted out on the water.

That's mostly true, but if for whatever reason you have a much shorter forestay and your mast is not raked back properly, that shortened distance *would* affect the slack in the jib halyard.

Lets say his rake is something weird like 35'5" from the transom, this would mean that his forestay is shorter, and the head of the jib would be closer to the turning block at the top of the Furler, and thus less adjustment available at the base.

43

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Brian Mikiten on May 20, 2026, 10:20:53 PM »

I appreciate the response and understand the purpose which is why I was asking about other boats. Mine has less than 3" of movement which hardly provides any effective change IMHO. I'll look at the 1 and 2 items.

44

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Dean Nelson on May 19, 2026, 10:37:32 PM »

How tight the jib halyard block and tackle assembly is adjusted has secondary/minimal effect on the mast rake.  The length of the block and tackle assembly is simply dependent on the length of the jib halyard.  How tight you want to pull the jib halyard block and tackle is dependent on the wind strength, whether you want any wrinkles in the jib luff and how much curvature you want in the jib luff.  Pulling the block and tackle assembly tight results in the belly of the jib moving toward the luff, reduces the wrinkles in the jib luff and reduces the curvature in the jib luff...all resulting in depowering the jib.  Having the block and tackle assembly too loose results in wrinkles at the luff, the belly moved back and more curvature in the jib luff.  Experience will tell you where the proper jib halyard tension settings are for low, medium and high wind.  Mast rake can primarily be adjusted via: 1) the length of a fixed forestay, 2) the length of the upper furler pigtail, or 3) an adjustable forestay.  Recommended mast rake is between 34'9" and 35'.  On windy days, typically less mast rake is desired.  On low to moderate wind days, typically more mast rake is desired.  Mast rake cannot be adjusted out on the water.

45

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Brian Mikiten on May 19, 2026, 05:09:31 PM »

To further my education (obsession) on this subject, I pulled my jib (furled) and found that I had about 3" of adjustment on the headstay. This compares to what looks like 12"+ in the original manual. I'm going to confirm that my mast is not WAY forward tomorrow but wondered what other people had for available adjustment. Photo from the manual is shown here.

46

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Josh Jones on May 01, 2026, 01:05:52 PM »

hmm, I never thought to consider that as an indicator of rake measurement

I suppose it would be relevant if all of our jib halyards were calibrated at the exact same distance, but I'm not sure that is the case

47

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Brian Mikiten on April 30, 2026, 07:56:14 PM »

In my case, I had to replace some of the components in the adjustment cleat mechanism and was concerned that I didn't provide enough adjustment. I had seen some boats with almost 12" of available line even if they only used 3-5" of actual adjustment. I realized this was an issue when during the last race we were being very out-pointed by another boat and saw that my jib was quite loose (floppy forestay) and beyond adjustment. I can't imagine doing any on-the fly adjustments but this would be for basic set up and tuning.

48

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Josh Jones on April 28, 2026, 02:50:21 PM »

So now that a lot of people are installing adjustable forestays, and this is no longer "enforced", what length are folks using?  Are we really adjusting the forestay regularly based on conditions?

49

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Brian Mikiten on April 28, 2026, 01:24:18 AM »

Good guidance. I'll check the measurements.

50

U20 Boat Maintenance & Care / Re: Forestay/Jib adjustment

« Last post by Dean Nelson on April 28, 2026, 12:01:46 AM »

The length of the forestay determines the mast rake.  Per class rule 7.4. "The length of the headstay assembly is optional. The recommended total length should be so
that the rake of the mast (dimension R in Figure 3) is between 34′ 9″ and 35′. This measurement will not be enforced and has been kept in the rules as a reference point only."