I'm putting my new spreaders on this weekend, but I haven't found any information about what angle to set them at or how tight to set the diamond wires.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

What sails are you running? I'd start with the Viper tinning guide.

Start here. You need to be a little concious of how your diamonds are terminated. New Taipans in Australia are set up with the upper terminals using T ball fittings on the sides of the mast and the lower diamonds passing through slots and connecting to one tension bolt inside the mast (same as a Viper), if your system varies from this you'll need to adjust for the differences.

The recommendations in George's article (cat rigged) are basically within the ball park of everyone I have spoken to since joining the class.

I'm currently running with 34 on the loos gauge and 35mm of spreader rake but my mast is very soft.

Forgive me if I extend the discussion a bit.

What is the advantage of setting up the mast with internal tension adjustment?

Is there an mechanical advantage to be gained by terminating the diamond wires inside the mast compared to the front side of the mast as was the "standard" for many years?

Only real advantage is it looks cool and it is tidy. Also it allows for the use of a larger thread on the adjustment screw so it is less likely to get damaged if mistreated.

In effect it moves the lower attachment aft which means you have to carry more spreader rake to get the same amount of pre-bend for a given diamond tension.

Another advantage is, specifically regarding the taipan, is that is changes the set up from adjusting two separate wires (each is bolted to the mast base if i am correct) where with internal both get adjusted equally.

Thanks Scarecrow.

dr5e14w,
if both diamonds are lead to the front of the mast to a single turnbuckle the same benefit could be had.

But it would still suck butt to adjust. On the bottom of the mast is super easy to get a wrench onto.

Nah, I dont think so. What sucked was having one turnbuckle for each diamond wire. Having the tensioning inside the mast is "cleaner".

Any good pics of the internal setup?

try the AHPC viper and C2 tuning guides. Both have a photo of the brass sled that is in the mast. If you're building it yourself drill and tap three holes. A large imperial (course) thread for the adjustment screw and then a small hole either side for the spreader terminations. These are sometime terminated on a single loop but having the two holes lets you adjust them individually initially to make up for small variations in wire length.

The holes the diamond wires go into are at an angle. fyi