1982 Cal 33 Mast Rake

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New owner of an old 1972 Cal 33 which has been neglected. The mast appears quite raked back to my eye. The PO had the backstay adjusted overly tight tight. And the backstay needs replacing as well. Loosened it up a bit but that didn't seem to reduce the rake very much, at least to my eye. Would appreciate any insight to this concern. Been looking on-line for any documentation such as a owner's manual or tuning guide on the early Cal 33s but can't find much. If anyone has info or documents please let me know. I'm beginning the restoration and would like to get the standing rigging adjusted properly. Thanks.

[rcvesselstyn]

Hi. Just a couple of questions, to help people help you. In your header you say 1982 Cal 33, but in me body you say 72. I'm sure that you meant 72, one of Lapworth boat's, not Hunt ( since they didn't show up till later). Next, do you have a roller furling jib? That could limit your headstay adjustment and the PO may have been trying to compensate for an over long headstay. Check your waterline. If your water tanks are empty and your fuel tanks are full, your anchors and chain are in the lazarette, the boat might be stern heavy . Which would give the appearance of a raked mast. Before tuning the rig get your boat balanced for whatever racing or cruising you're planning on doing. Lapworth always recommended a relatively loose rig. Leaving tension on the back stay when you're not sailing can give you a banana boat or drive the mast through the deck. You might send a text over to sailboat data.com and see if he has anything on the 33 that he hasn't put on the site yet. He is usually pretty good about getting this stuff up right away but occasionly he will have pictures or diagrams that are not perfect that he doesn't put on the site. Hopefully one of our crew will have the information you're looking for or better suggestions. But if you would like I can give you a step by step of how we adjusted our rigs back in the day. Good luck!

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Indeed it’s a 1972; noticed the typo a split second after posting. Appreciate your helpful suggestions. Going to repost with a more informative narrative following a bit more investigation. But no roller furling and just learned that the PPO apparently changed out the mast to a taller one (40ft vs 35ft) and had the standing rigging redone. Suffice to say, I’m not sure what’s what with the rigging.perhaps it’s a 2-33 mast on there? Going to have to measure it carefully and inspect the tanks.

[rcvesselstyn]

OK. That brings a whole different set of circumstances into play. If the PO changed to a higher aspect ratio rig it is likely that the center of effort moved higher and further forward. Without changing the mast step a way to compensate for the extreme lee helm would be to rake the mast to move the center of effort further astern. Hopefully the PO consulted a naval architect to get it right. Most boats especially Lapworth's do better with a slightly weather helm The angle of the rudder on the wind actually helps you make progress up wind. If you move the CE too far forward you get a lee helm. That would mean your rudder would be angled towards the lee side in order to compensate and this would to some degree pull you down lower on your intended course. If there have been changes to your rig and you don't have any documentation, before you change anything, you need to get the boat out and sail it. When working with a unknown rig you will have to tune it by the way the boat performs. Changing rigs is not a problem unless your class racing. As long as it's done right. Dad used to sail a schooner rigged M class. The owner bet another cutter rigged M class that if he couldn't beat him in a race. He said if he lost a 3 race series he would change his M class to a cutter. They only ended up racing one of the series but the schooner lost. The owner hired a world class naval architect and the boat was redone as a cutter. These guys my dad sailed with used to do things like that. Later the owner changed it to a ketch. If done properly changing rigs is fine but if done wrong it can make for some unpleasant sailing....As a schooner.

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As a cutter.

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Dad said he missed the gollywobbler but the cutter was easier to sail well.