Tartan 4000, Owner'S Manual, Page: 35 / 80

T4000 OM
Check the following CAREFULLY
When the upper shrouds are at optimum tension and when at about 15 to 20 degrees of
heel, the leeward rigging should look slack. This is quite appropriate and should never be
tightened. When close hauled under genoa and main, the forestay may appear quite
sagged. Tensioning the backstay will reduce the amount of sag, but the sag itself can
never be eliminated. As a rule of thumb, the maximum static backstay pressure should
never exceed one quarter of the backstay breaking strength.
If your boat is brand new, the rigging may seat and stretch to the extent that tuning from
scratch again will become necessary in a matter of weeks. However, after this initial
working-­‐in period, you will find that the rig tends to hold its tune for considerably long
periods of time. After becoming used to the feel of the boat, you may wish to either
increase or decrease the amount of weather helm. Any sailboat, when sailing up wind,
should have a slight tendency to "round up" or head into the wind if the helm is let go. If
you find it typically difficult to hold the boat off the wind, the boat is carrying too much
weather helm. This can be alleviated by reducing rake, which will move the center of
effort of the sailplan further forward. Conversely, if you find the boat tends to fall off
when sailing upwind and you must constantly push her to weather, then the boat carries lee
helm and the rig will require more rake.
With constant tuning as the season progresses, your boats performance will improve. The
boat will feel more comfortable to sail.
You will find that tuning is a bit of an art and you will begin to notice subtle changes in the
behavior and response of your boat as you make subtle changes in tuning. The important
thing to remember is to go about the process in a slow and orderly fashion. To record
the details of the tuning and re-­‐tuning procedures as well as the results achieved will
provide you a better understanding of the rig and will serve as a useful reference for rigging
the boat on subsequent occasions.