On my 30' 1983 O'day, I have a pully set up that tightens the rear stay. How does his help my sailing experience?
Adjustable Rear Stay
- Thread starter twodzusfittings
- Start date
On masthead rigged O'Days the adjustable backstay will have limited effect on mast bend. The primary effect is to adjust the amount of sag in the headstay. Generally in lighter wind you want more sag to generate more power. As windspeed comes up you'll want more tension, both to counter the extra pull of the sail (which adds sag), and to depower the sail somewhat.
I'm not a sail maker, but I'll take a shot at that.
My guess is that adding tension may help, but only marginally. The sail is designed so that when fully unfurled the luff has a bit of concave curvature, enough to compensate for a few inches of sag. The problem is that as you reef the sail the foot and leech stay tight, and the inner part, because of the belly, gets baggy. That bagginess inverts the normal curvature built into the sail, leaving excess cloth in the forward midsection. Tightening the backstay will remove the headstay sag, so instead of the excess amount of cloth being, say 6" of sag plus 8" of belly cloth, it's only 8", but that's still not ideal.
On every headsail/rig configuration, removing forestay sag in proportion to wind-speed is a good idea. Not just to help flatten and depower the sail, but also to help prevent shock loading.
Any partially furled sail is a performance compromise. Some will have foam pads attached to the luff to attempt to keep shape when partially furled. Some do better then others.
Any partially furled sail is a performance compromise. Some will have foam pads attached to the luff to attempt to keep shape when partially furled. Some do better then others.
I'm not one for racing. The whole idea of sailing for me is to get away from the speedsters in the world and take my time and enjoy the romance I have with my boat. So my guess is that all the gear, lines and blocks to make a small difference, which will go un noticed for me, can be stored in the box of "don't need these right now"! By the way, you guys that help me are really great. Just having this great resource of hands on knowlege is huge. Thanks everyone.
Certainly not right now for racing... These tools also serve to make our boat more stable, and more comfortable. A loose head stay means the mast can move "more or less". If in choppy water this wagging of the head sail and by connection the mast is described as "pumping". In sever cases it can wear on your mast and rigging. So these "tools" are used to reduce the "shock load - pumping" as @Jackdaw identified, in the rigging.
Think of the tools like the full length of the gas peddle in your car. You won't use it to speed down the highway at full throttle 110, but it it nice to be able to "step on it" to get around that slow moving truck and back in your lane where you can again cruise and enjoy the experience.