Having just purchased MR 3321 i wonder if any one can help me with some advice on using lowers. The boat has no mast ram. I think the lowers use the same principle as the ram i.e. tension to reduce mast bend but i have no settings and am looking for some starting tips, like a rough guide for tension in light , medium and stronger winds. the mast is hog stepped and uses levers ( non adjustable ) on the shrouds and there is system for fixing the jib luff wire into the mast to create jib tension. the jib is locked into the hound on the mast and shackled to the deck which will not allow for adjustment to rig tension. I know people will advise me to upgrade the systems but i want to keep the boat original as possible as i learn to sail it properly. Any tips???
thanks

Had similar arrangement on 3227 when I first had her but did have a mast ram.  Found that the lowers were useless on a hog stepped mast and that the whole rig worked better without them but I did have a mast ram which was important.

SO my suggestion would be get rid of the lowers (which are almost certainly a later addition) and put a ram back on.

Not sure what you have got on the jib but usually with that age, the jib tension was adjusted with a muscle box but nowadays usually use blocks.  Also I assume that the levers on the shrouds are quadrant levers which can be adjusted.

I seem to recall that there is a good piece on setting up hog stepped rigs somewhere on this site (perhpas under training) and also Batt Sails site has some good notes.

Tuning tips for older boats.

Had the boat out at the weekend with some older sails on it. Having just read the tunning guide i notice it says that the leeward shroud should never be loose - mine was upwind. does anybody know how to increase rig tention given that the levers on the shrouds are either on or off ( not quadrant levers but verticle ones) and the jib halyard is locked into the mast and as such not adjustable. The only thing that i can adjust is the lowers but they only move about 5-6cms between loose and full on.

My leeward shroud is always loose - beware as the hull itself will close up slightly (qsueeze inwards) under lots of rig tension!

If you stiffen up the mast with chocks or a ram you will reduce the sag of the shroud (because you are reducing bend; bend brings the hounds closer to the deck).  You will not remove it on an older boat as you cannot achieve the rig tension required without damaging the structure

3321 will surely be a low tank boat, and therefore should be able to manage with tons of rig tension.

Persnally i'd either tighten the shrouds if possible or get slightly shorter ones if not.

Mines got a low tank....I think I will put the tape measure on the gunwhales next time I crank it up, to see how bad things are!

Yes the boat is a low bow tank hull. i will try a few things over the weekend and see what happens. might end up converting to muscle boxes for jib halyard and shrouds if i cant improve tension. used to sail an NSM1 omega and that had loads of tension applied and went like a dream.
Didnt someone say hard and fast is the way to go?????

Just to stir the pot slightly (and being the owner of a hog stepper!), It's interesting to see the Open 60 monohull class using "tuna pole" deck level spreaders to REDUCE rig tension on their wing mast rigs, 'cos they think it'll make them go faster- a case of what goes around, comes around? Also, I see that a dart 15 catamaran is almost exactly the same width as a Merlin (where DID i put that old catamaran mast......?)

Presumably there is some room for adjustment where the shroud goes into these levers and you could try leaving less slck in the shroud before the lever is put on.

Alternatively, ditch these levers and get quadrant levers - I think there was a pair for sale on the site.

Lowers will not do anything to tighten the shroud tension and anyway in my experience are useless on a hog stepped mast.

Lowers do more than just replace a ram or strut.

They also restrict the masts sideways bend, especially offwind, and it's surprising how much a hog stepped rig can bend between deck and gooseneck!

This adds quite a considerable amount of power.

The problem with lowers is that they tend to be hidden away and it can be difficult to visualise how tight they really are - with a strut it tends to be more obvious. Since overtight lowers/struts are one of the best ways of destroying boat speed we have a problem!

Therefore with lowers it is absolutely essential to have good, clear marks somewhere that is easy to see from either side of the boat. Each of the marks should correspond to a rake setting and with the boat set up on shore with the rig tight but no mainsail hoised the lowers should just add support. They most certainly should not alter the sweet curve in the mast. 

Get the marks right and trust them. On my (Deckstepped) boat the marks are on the front kingpost.

I should have added above that the basic objective of all these bend control devices is to hold the gooseneck in position and prevent the thrust from the kicker overbending the mast.

That is why you need marks for each rake setting. As you rake more you move the gooseneck further back.

Take a look at this document or the other training document on rigs.

Alternatively can you get to a training event and get one of the pro-yotters to show you how to set your boat up?  They really are rather good!

Its a long way to travel to get a pro to set it up for me as i live in Dundee, but if that is the way to go them so be it. i think i will read with interest the articles and see if i can make some sense of them. There is another rocket at Wormit so i guess i will be able to judge if the boat is set up correctly once i learn how to sail it properly

Sail it