Mirror rigging jib and forestay

Not sure if anyone can help with this?
I have recently purchased an old mirror and where the forestay meets the bow, I have a small saddle and below it a bow roller. The jib has a built in wire running down the luff (no Hank's to connect it to the forestay).
Question; The forestay comes close to the saddle so a larger shackle would work but if connected directly to the saddle there wouldn't be a way to tension it. If I put a short rope between the loop in the forestay and the saddle (yellow rope in picture) it seems like only an inch or so adjustment. Also does the wire in the jib also tie off to the same point and the the rope from the jib luff go through the little roller so it can have adjustment when sailing? I have seen pictures where they are just tied with a bowline but I gather they're sposed to be adjustable.
I have positioned a black cleat on the foredeck next to the mast (in picture just not screwed In yet)
Would it be correct to take the luff rope back to something like this so I can pull it down tight?
Picture link below.

forestay 1

forestay 2

Hello Snoopy,
I`m afraid it might not help much but to me it looks like the forestay may be too long or the shrouds mounted incorrectly allowing the mast to rake forward instead of upright or back, you may also try putting the forestay loop on the top of the masttop stack, that won`t gain you much but might help a bit.
The jib luff is usually tentioned with the halyard before setting off and not adjusted underway, or is that a highly tuneable Mirror you`ve got there?

Hope someone with more Mirror specific experiance chimes in to help!

Greetings from Germany

Alan.

elbsegler's picture

Hello Snoopy,

propably you don´t have enough mast rake.
Shorten the shrouds a little (there will be a sort of adjuster). There are many tuning guides on the web. I have adjusted mine (as far as i can remember) with 353 cm measured from the mast sheave to the upper edge of the transom.
The Loop at the stay should be fixed to the saddle(=stay anchor plate) with about 3 bends, tensioned (if you pull on the shroud like a guitar chord there should be a deep Sound) and then fixed safely with a knot.

About the luff adjustment, Im am not sure if it is conform with the rules, but it will work. There is not much tension necessary here, so i would recommend using a thinner rope.

Greetings from Hamburg
Ferdi

PuffinInTegel's picture

I can't add anything on the subject matter, other than what Alan and Ferdi have written, but I've taken the liberty of converting your links to show the pictures here on the site directly.
To view the full scale pictures, most browsers will show a pop-up menu if you click-right-mouse-button on the pictures here and then click left on select "Show graphic"/"Grafik anzeigen" or similar (not sure what other browsers offer). This has the advantage that (at least with my Firefox) the photo is then shown right-way up.
Wishing all a pleasant weekend.
Gernot

P.S. the site may be down for maintenance for an hour or two in the near future.

Thanks All for the comments. I have since replaced the rigging and had the forestay shortened about 3-4inches. This means a small piece of spectra rope can be used to tension it and it seems quite tight.
The jib should be tensioned by the halyard as well but I think The rope is old and doesn't have any stretch.

beermatt's picture

Was going to ask this on a separate post, but seemed to tie in nicely with this thread so thought I'd hijack/continue it.

Does anyone know why rope is used on the Forestay, rather than something like a rigging screw?

Also, does anyone have any links, or can explain what these are supposed to do?
http://www.downwindmarine.com/Ronstan-Stay-Adjusters-p-91000451.html
http://www.downwindmarine.com/Johnson-Shroud-Adjusters-p-91000450.html
http://www.force4.co.uk/allen-open-vernier-adjuster-64mm-adjustment.html...

I've tried googling it but not get very far. I can tell it's something to do with adjusting the rigging but don't really understand what, how they'd differ from a screw, and what/how you might use them on a Mirror (think I've seen them on the forestay of a Mirror before).