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Does anyone have any details of measurements for setting up the new Wayfarer. We have had one arrive at our club, owned by people not used to sailing a Wayfarer. Although they intend only to cruise I am concerned that the mast pin is hard against the mast and tabernacle when rig tension is put on. I am aware of the measurements and procedure for the older models but obviously the measurement to the centre underside of the traveller rail or equivalent cannot be achieved. I have packed in front of the mast foot pin to remove this contact and estimated the position of measurement from comparison pictures but wonder if there are any official guidelines? Do cruisers need to be concerned about this? Can anyone help
A tricky problem. One possibility for setting mast rake would be to measure the transom depth from the aft end of the keel to the traveller rail on an older Wayfarer, then measure up from the keel on the new boat to provide a reference point. You would need a straight piece of wood or similar held against the transom to simulate the position of the absent traveller rail.
However, whether this measurement would have much validity is open to debate. Side-by-side visual comparison with a correctly set up older boat would perhaps be just as good. Either way it would be useful to know what rake measurement you settle on, and when others chip in with their own data the process of evolving a tuning guide for the new boat will be under way.
I feel that the setup shouldn’t alter too much between the types of wayfarer, the numbers might differ slightly but the adjustments should still do the same thing. do you know if it is hard against the front of the hole or the back?
The guide to mast rake is “add three inches”
For instance when you put the tape up the mast for a Plus S you set it at 19′ 3″ to the top of the black band at the gooseneck, fix it, and then take it to the transom where it should be 23′ 5″ to 23′ 7″ depending on conditions. More upright for light winds, raked further back for stronger winds. For the Hartley the measurement to the transom is 23′ 8″ to 23′ 10″.
Hope this helps.And what about the new spreaders? They are pointing up, mathematics tells me the spreader width should hence be slightly less compared to the old style spreaders. On the other hand, because the angle above and below the spreader is now equal, the spreader is more efficient. Should it be moved slightly further forward relative to the old spreader position? Or are the differences to small to be significant?
Anyone care to comment?
You are right the new mast spreaders point slightly up which makes them more efficient, but we used to point the old ones up as well and screw and tape them in place. As far as the spreaders are concerned generally I think one just has to return to the fundamentals. The spreader angle is the main controlling influence over fore and aft mast bend. Swinging the spreaders back will bend the mast more and vice versa. The aim with the Wayfarer spreader angle is to achieve about one to one and a half inches of pre-bend measured at the spreaders. I don’t think this is different with the new boat – though experience will tell.
Spreader length controls the sideways bend of the mast. Shorter spreaders allow the mast to bend to windward in the middle, depowering the mainsail and opening the mainsail leech and the jib slot. Long spreaders have the opposite effect, holding the mast in column and powering up the rig. It is just a question of setting up the length to suit the set of sails with the weight of the crew and sailing conditions, largely by trial and error. We are still trialling and erroring.
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