too tight

Posted by LeeG on Nov 17, 2006

this is a good time to reinforce a couple things. The bottom panels have to stay even with each other as you stitch the bottom panels to the side panels.

The side panels have to stay even with each other as they are stitched to the bottom panels.

It's ok for the side and bottom panels to shift a little bit to each other (top/bottom) but you don't want any left/right shift. One way to ensure the bottom and side panels don't shift too much is to go back and check from where you started in the first few wirings to make sure things didn't get pulled as you stitch it up. The panels are cut for an exact fit but it's possible to get anywhere from 1/8" to 3/8" overhang if you don't pay attention in the first few feet of wiring.

If the left/right panels shift,you get twist,and twist will not come out satisfactorily by "unwinding". Even with loose wiring you aren't going to be able to re-shift left/right mismatch as the tension in all those wires,,even loose ones pretty much fixes the postion.

When the bottom panels got opened up and stitched on the side panels tension in the side panels from the stiff sheerclamps get transmitted to the middle of the bottom panels,,that's where the flat spot develops if you don't take it out. So when you turn the hull over loosen the center wires a bit and use a few lbs of weight to bring the keeline down to where it should be, it's a very slight arch, almost straight in the middle 6' or so. You don't need to use wedges to make the keeline right,,to do so would imply the panels aren't cut right, a few lbs should be sufficient.

In Response to: bottom panel wires by Tom S on Nov 17, 2006

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