Removing lower shrouds shrouds for winter cover

[jfssail]

Patrice, You are correct regarding the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion for stainless and aluminum alloys.

I loosened my shrouds the first year until I read about this on either the C36 or C34 forums. I did a quick calculation using the following parameters.

Aluminum Alloys coefficient, 12.5 x 10-6 inch/inch/deg F
Stainless Alloys coefficient,    8.8 x 10-6 inch/inch/deg F

For 40 feet of length, 60 degrees F temperature change, the mast will shrink 0.106 " more than the shrouds, a little less than 1/8". About 1-2 turns on the turnbuckle.  I did not factor in the length of the mast being longer then the shrouds.

Jack F Stewart, Chemical Engineer
1993 C36 #1233 "Windancer"
Port Clinton, OH

[Andrew Harvey]

This is good news!
One less job to do for winter storage and save a lot of $ on split rings!