I've had my mast back on for a week and a bit and got it very tight.
ive basically used the loos gauge which is a calibrated tool to tighten the stays evenly.
for eg, the stays are at a maximum of 14% of their breaking strain. Lowers are 10. Back stays are 8.
uppers are 12.
Ive got a rake on the mast, which really only shows from the top spreaders and up. It would be about a mast width but it's def noticeable.
The rake scares me a bit. On a 9 m mast it looks a bit like too much rake and I'm worried that it could be.
On the other hand the boat is sailing very very well to windward. Much better pointing ability.
before removing the mast I photographed the screws and threads. The forestay and the back stays are tighter than before.
ive fired this question, concern over to the Tophat forum as well. the concern is regarding the rake and tightness. Could iit be too tight although the gauge tells me , and pro riggers tell me(YouTube!) that 14 % of a wires breaking strain is ok?
iwill be sailing to jervis in 2 weeks so I guess a few trial runs are in order. With maybe some lesser tensions. Looks gauge is a must have tool imo. So handy And great for taking some guess work out if you wanna tension rig prepping for a blow etc.