While attaching the new headstay to the top of the mast, Michael noticed that the wire had slipped out of the top Norseman fitting about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. Oops.

The next day, he emailed Navtec, the maker of the Norseman fittings:

Hello Navtec,

I have recently installed 3/8��� Norseman fittings on my 3/8��� 1×19 headstay carefully following the instructions included with the fitting in addition to the more extensive instructions on your website FAQ. Immediately after completing the installation, I used a felt pen to mark the wire���s position relative to the body-end of the Norseman fitting (for future inspections I would know if the wire had slipped).

However, after mounting and tensioning the headstay, referencing this mark indicated that the wire had slipped out of the Norseman fitting by approximately 1/4 inch. Further tensioning has not added to the slippage but nonetheless I am still concerned that since less wire is now within the Norseman it may be weaker and possibly pull out completely. In your installation instructions, you warn not to over tighten the fitting and to immediately stop tightening when resistance increases. Is it possible I took this advice too far and didn���t tighten enough thereby not seating the cone within the body sufficiently? Is it possible that after tensioning and apparent wire slippage that the cone is now fully seated and there is nothing to worry about? Is this a common occurrence? Your advice is much appreciated.

Several hours later he received the following reply:

I just received your inquiry about the Norseman fitting. The mark you made should have moved away from the fitting as you loaded it but .25��� does seem a little far. Was the mark actually at the fitting exit or at some distance from the fitting? If it is several feet away from the fitting because of a furler then you also have to take into account the stretch of the wire and .25��� movement might be reasonable. To be safe I would recommend you unscrew the fitting and inspect the backside of the cone and wire assembly. The wire should protrude beyond the cone and be formed/folded around the cone. If this is not the case and the ends of the wire are not around the cone then you should redo the assembly. You were correct not to overly tighten the fitting when you assembled it. The instructions are written that way because many people assume that if they screw it together really tightly that the fitting will work better; this is not the case and is likely to gall the threads. The fitting should be tightened enough to fold the wire ends behind the cone, then when loaded the wire pulls the cone in place. I apologize if the instructions were unclear about this; we appreciate your feedback because we are going to be rewriting the instructions in the near future. So to summarize, my suggestion is to check that the wire is folded around the cone; if they are then the fitting should hold. If not then you should reassemble the end and apply a little more torque when screwing the fitting together. I hope this answers your question and brings you a little closer to concluding the forestay project from hell!

Let me know if I can offer any further assistance�Ķ

Michael Stow
Navtec Engineering

Wow! We were impressed with this great customer service and glad we had chosen the Norseman fittings.

As you might have guessed, the saga continues after all. We decide to take down the furling unit and double check the fittings to see what was going on….