I'm still tinkering with my DS-I, trying to get it tuned up correctly.
It has become painfully obvious to me that I do not have any pre-bend in the mast. And with my limited knowledge of physics, I can't figure out what I need to tweak to get the mast to bend.
I have a DS variety in which the mast is stepped on the cabin top. The mast has a pin about an inch from the base, which catches in a bracket mounted on the deck.
I have adjusted the shroud lengths and forestay tension, but have not been able to achieve the desired results. The mast stays perfectly straight.
My thoughts were that the swept back spreaders would exert a forward push on the mast to create the bend, while the shrouds and forestay with a virtually connected at the same point, would hold the mast in place.
However, even with an extremely tight rig, still no bend
Researching a little, it sounds like DS's with a keel stepped mast, to create bend you would chock the mast base slightly aft to induce the bend.
But with my setup, I don't think I can do this. The only thing I can think of is to shim the aft edge of the base of the mast to tilt if forward, and use the shrouds to pull it back and create the bend.
Does this sound reasonable ???
Any advice would be appreciated. I losing upwind performance and have a race this Saturday.
Thanks
Bill H