 Rigging a Frensi
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Overview
The Frensi rig includes a sail, the upper and lower booms, a halyard mount (short top mast) and rigging pack
The Frensi uses a Laser hull, rudder, centreboard, mainsheet
It also uses the Laser standard lower mast (possibly a Radial lower mast instead in future)
Basic steps to rig a Frensi from scratch
(more details below)
Note: Always rig the Frensi booms and sail to the left (port side) of the mast. Also, when upright and in the mast hole, the lower mast should be turned so the Laser kicker and gooseneck are pointing out to the left.
Add the halyard cleat on to the Laser lower mast gooseneck
Put the halyard mount (a very short top mast) onto the top of the Laser lower mast
Make sure the two booms are joined by a shackle - there are eyes for the shackle at the end of each boom.
Slide the tube of cloth at the front of the sail over and along the upper boom
Attach the halyard rope - push a loop through the eye on the boom (in the gap in the sail sleeve) and trap the plastic ball in the loop
Put the free end of the halyard through the eye at the top of the halyard mount (front to back)
Put the halyard end through the cleat and tie any knot to stop it escaping
Push a loop of the tack downhaul line through the tack of the sail and trap the plastic ball
Slide the loop of beads (the Frensi gooseneck) over the bottom of the mast
Put the Laser mast upright and into the mast hole in the deck
Slide the Frensi gooseneck up over the Laser kicker fitting
Pull up the sail halfway and cleat it (check the halyard is not twisted)
Take the loop of line in the clew of the sail and pull it over the end of the lower boom
Get the hook at the end of the lower boom and attach to the clew of the sail
Pull the sail up the rest of the way (if the sail gets stuck, check the Frensi gooseneck is not trapped)
Thread the Laser mainsheet through the blocks on the Frensi boom and traveller (same system as the Laser)
Shackle the Frensi rig tensioner (kicker) to the Laser kicker fitting on the mast (near the bottom)
In more detail...
Attach the halyard cleat
There are two types of halyard cleat, the bolt-on and the clip-on.
If you have the bolt-on type:
Remove the bolt through the Laser gooseneck that holds the gooseneck pin in place
Remove the pin (put the nut, bolt and pin somewhere safe in case you need them again)
Undo the nut at the bottom of the halyard cleat and remove the bolt
Slide the cleat down so the metal plate goes inside the gooseneck (on the right side)
Put the bolt through the cleat, the hole in the middle of the gooseneck and the metal plate inside it
Put the nut on the end of the bolt and tighten
If you have the clip-on type:
Slide the halyard cleat up so the hook part goes inside the Laser gooseneck (on the right side)
The cleat itself goes outside the gooseneck and over the bolt head
Pass the line at the top of the cleat around the mast
Push the end of the line up through the Line-lok, pull tight and trap it in the Line-lok
Halyard cleat - the two types
The bolt-on type is bolted on the the Laser lower mast. You must remove the Laser gooseneck pin by removing the bolt through the gooseneck. Once in place it does not move around and gives a very secure way to cleat the main halyard.
The clip-on type slides on to the bottom of the gooseneck. The force from a halyard is upwards, so the bottom of the fitting has a bolt and clip to provide strength. The top of the fitting is tied around the mast. This works well, although the top of the fitting moves around a little more than the bolt-on type. The advantage of the clip-on halyard cleat is that by un-tying the top it can be taken off quickly. This is useful if you often swap between the Frensi rig and a Laser rig.
Attach the halyard to the eye on the upper boom
At one end of the main halyard is a stopper ball
There is a plastic washer on the halyard too - keep this down and away from the stopper end
At the stopper ball end, push a loop of halyard line through the metal eye on the upper boom (in the gap in the sail sleeve)
Pass the stopper ball the other way around the boom and into the loop to trap it
Adjust the line so the ball is trapped next to the eye
With the other end, push it through the eye on the top of the mast (from front to back)
Now take that end down the mast and into the halyard cleat on the Laser gooseneck
Tie any knot to make sure the halyard does not run back through the cleat
Attach the front bottom corner of the sail (tack)
Once the sail has been pushed down along the upper boom, the bottom corner (called the "tack") should be near the join between the two booms. Get the rope with the stopper ball that goes through the bottom metal eye and push a loop through the eye on the sail from left side to right. Take the stopper ball under the sail and push it through the loop. Once the stopper ball is trapped by the loop, you have attached the tack.
Attach the rear bottom corner of the sail (clew)
Start with the sail down or only half up. Through the eye at the bottom rear corner of the sail (the "clew") is a loop of rope. Put this over the back end of the lower boom and push it along the boom until it is in front of the grey metal eye on the boom. Then put the hook in to the eye of the sail to finish attaching the clew.
Attach the rig tensioner (also known as the "vang" or "kicker")
The rig tensioner is a rope over the lower boom, going through the same eye as the rope for the Frensi gooseneck. In this picture, the red rope round the boom is for the Frensi gooseneck and the blue rope is for the rig tensioner. Hanging down from the rope is a cleat and a shackle. Pull the sail up (this makes attaching the rig tensioner easier) and attach the shackle to the Laser kicker/vang fitting at the bottom of the mast. Make sure you have turned the mast so the Laser kicker fitting is pointing to the left - that way the tensioner is pulling straight down on the boom above it.
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