The manual I found online says.

"Raise the jib the remaining distance, then tension the line until there is 4" to 5" of slack in the forestay."

Can someone explain what this means? I've been raising the jib as high as it will go. then I tie it off.

the forestay is the front cable that holds the mast up right?
So how does the jib raising... give 4-6" of slack in the forestay? doesn't make sense to me - please help.
thanks

When you raise the jib it is meant to carry all the strain.

The jib has a wire (luff wire) that becomes the forestay when properly rigged. It must take the full load of the rig to perform properly. The H16 "forestay" only holds the mast up when the jib is not hoisted. So, yes... tension the rig with the jib halyard and the forestay goes slack. It just hangs in a shallow arch of about 3-4 inches or more. Some sailors tie a small bungee to the forestay to pull some tension forward and keep it from flopping around.

THANKS - yes I finally noticed what was happening and I'm getting the slack in the forestay. Was confusing at first.