We're on a mooring. Last night the wind was very moderate - 10 - 15 kts perhaps - and I got woken up by the rigging!

Recently, Toodle-oo!'s rigging has started to drone - and I put my mandolin tuner onto the upper shrouds and it reports that Toodle-oo!'s tune is a D#! What tune does your rig play? When you touch the shrouds, you can feel them vibrating...

Is this normal or is there too much tension on the rig? The mast is nicely vertical with a little bend and I don't notice it falling to leeward when blowing, The leeward lower does get very loose at times - such that I tightened them just a tad (half turn) a couple of months ago.

Appreciate any thoughts...

Bill Balme

Hi Have you tried slackening or taking the tension off the Topping Lift, many people are amazed how this reverberation can just disappear.
Hope this helps.
Brian
S/V Darramy

Thanks for that Brian! Unfortunately, you've highlighted a problem that I was not (fully) aware of... I slacked off the topping lift and the boom hit the bimini! The vang (kicker) is supposed to support the weight of the boom but it appears that the gas struts within have gone AWOL! This'll be the third time I've replaced them in 7 years! So, tension stays on the topping lift until I get the vang fixed! I hope this is the solution to my D[font=sans-serif]#![/font]
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Bill Balme

Agree with Brian in regards to the topping lift. Tension on the TL can be adjusted by mainsheet tension, at least enough to give you an idea if this is the area to focus on. I suspect that the TL is the culprit as it has been called upon to back up the gas strut you have found not doing its job. BTW, what kind of kicker do you have? Three replacements in 7 years is way out of line, especially as many have done away with their TL just because they have a gas strut to keep the boom well behaved.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
BTW, in line with the above question, I would want to encourage people to name names of things that work for them and also name names for gear that has let them down. Nobody need take these comments as the last word, but it is important data: field reports are the best.

We just had Aleria's ~20yo standing rigging replaced in Cascais (Lisbon), Portugal and would highly recommend the rigger. Our PO in Cascais, John Duggan, recommended Jorge and helped us organise the work. When the disassembly began, several wires had serious twists in them and there were other signs of wear making us very glad to have spent the time and money on the work. It was expensive because most of the wire had to be brought in from other countries. But she sails even better now than before on both tacks having been tuned professionally under sail during a sea trial afterwards. Jorge, and his assistant Jorge, were great to work with. Alex also replaced all the electrical wire and replaced the masthead antennas and light fittings with LED. I'll do a separate post on that.

The only concern is that the rig seems to have developed a resonance in the wind, most felt at anchor or tied up in the marina. We'll have to see if it's gone now that sails are off and tension released from the topping lift. Thanks for the suggestion.

By the way, Aleria sings when we sail downwind. It sounds like Native American pipe music. We discovered that the holes in the mizzen boom left behind after gear was removed over the years acts like a wind instrument. It's lovely and haunting. Gives her a mysterious personality. :-)

Vice Commodore, OCC