[Hunter 336] Mast tuning hunter 336

Hello there,

I am a new hunter owner. We bought a hunter 336 (1995) and I have some problems tuning my mast. It is a B & R rig with double spreader and full batten main sail. My problem is that when I bought the boat I had to take the mast down to transport it back home. Although I used the same tension in the shrouds as the previous owner it seems I have too muck bent in my mast...sail trim is not efficient, sail very hard to hoist, etc...I tried to lessen the bend but nothing seemed to help (even the manual didn't help) and decided to leave it like that for the first summer before I screw it up worse...but now I would really like to tune it right.

Does anyone know what I should do?

Thank you,

David

David.Hayes@uqtr.ca

[Charlie13958]

Without an adjustable back stay on the B&R rigs, they need a lot of prebend. My previous boat was a 336 and may have had 16 to 18 inches prebend. To hoist the sail, best way is to hoist at the mast with someone in the cockpit tailing the halyard. If you sail mostly alone, get a spin lock on the mast for the halyard. Also make sure your main sheet, vang, and reef lines are loose.

[Donalex]

There are mast tuning instructions available. Try the search function on this site.
You will need about 6" of pre-bend measured by a tight line between masthead and goose neck. Anything more than this may make the rig unstable. The pre-bend is put into the mast using the 'diamonds' and is normally done with the mast off the boat - but I see no reason why it would not be okay with the mast stepped and the shrouds not tightened.
Then tighten the shrouds and remove the additional bend caused using the lowers. This is best done progressively until the shrouds are at about 20% of breaking strain and the mast is straight athwartships.
You will also need about 6" of rake measured by a heavy tool hung on the main halyard on a calm day - and with nobody in the cockpit.

Please be aware that raising the main is hard work on these boats due, in part, to the pressure of the full length battens against the mast together with losses in the deck organizers.
I fitted ball bearing sliders on the batten pockets with little improvement so then I used a double length halyard made fast at the mast head on a shackle through a ready made hole in the fitting. I have a sheave on the head of the sail but it still needs winching the last couple of feet. Of course I can use a thinner halyard 12mm from memory and this helps too.

[petersea]

The B&R rig instruction require that some mast prebend and the "double diamond" shroud be pre set before you mount the mast. As suggested there are instructions and I would read them before trying any more adjustments. As suggested make sure all lines are loose before trying to raise the main, I also found that the 336 is just plain hard to raise the main. It is a lot of sail to hoist. Good luck with your new boat, I had a 336 and really liked it.......nice boat !

Thanks a lot for the tips...
I have aprox. 18-21 inches of bent and find it is too much...I would like to get it back to 12" max...
I hope I can do this with the mast up

Morning Haze

[petersea]

http://sbo.sailboatowners.com/index....d=35&Itemid=87

Some pretty good instruction from right here on SBO. Just a comment but even 12" of prebend would appear to be alot.