What do you do with your backstay?

[LakeShark]

Ok so I have just spent the last 3 weeks sailing, trailering, and sailing some more and it has been great except for 2 issues. First was getting the wing keel to guide itself back on the trailer with all the various ramps. Some are steep, some are shallow, and some are just plane short with my trailer tires resting only 6 inches from a 4 foot drop at the end of the ramp. I was able to solve this with some 60" guide posts from WM which were on sale. They work fantastic as I have marked the water depth on them so I know just how deep the trailer must be for recovery. The last 3 landings on the trailer have been perfect with no dock side help and just motoring on. If you don't have these on your trailer and you have a wing keel I highly recommend them.

The 2nd issue is more my problem now and that is what do you guys do with your back stay while trailering. It takes me like 10 min to raise and lower the mast alone but more like an hour and a half to secure all the cables for transport down the road. Currently I try and coil the back stay and then hang it from the mast with a strap while using a small piece of rope to hold the bottom of the coil to the traveler. this way everything stays attached but it sure is a pain to get it just right. On saturday it took me close to 45 min just to get all the cables right for travel and the backstay was like 30+ min of that (I will admit that I was tired from 3 days on the water). There must be a better way. I searched the archives and various pictures online but as of yet cant seem to find anything specific to the backstay. So what do others do? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[JRacer]

On the J24, we always just stripped the mast. All shrouds, forestay and backstay off and coiled up and stowed below for long hauls. Short hauls we used bungee cords to bungee the upper shrouds, forestay and backstay to the stick, lowers removed and stowed. When coiling, I recommend a couple of zip ties to keep the coils nice and tight.

 

[LakeShark]

I have thought of that. I use some foam wire ties for securing the cables around the mast for trailering and they work great. If no one has any better ideas likely I will just disconnect the backstay at the triangle plate and run it down the mast with the forestay. However I am still hoping someone has a genius solution that will not require me disconnecting another cable so that my rigging time is decreased. Every minute spent on the ramp is a minute I wish I was already on the water! My goal is still 30 min for rig and launch and 45 min to re-secure for transport.

 

[Jacktar]

tie a red ribbon around it to identify and disconnect at transom and lash to mast with rest of shrouds.

 

[dzl]

If you're not already using ball bungees, that's the tip of the day. You can get a 25 pack of 9" ones on amazon really reasonable. I pull the back stay forward and put a bungee around the triangle plate, then coil the stay itself up and one bungee around it and the mast. Let the bottom swing. It's a couple minutes at most and I've trailered many many miles this way with no issues. I only use ball bungees on all of the shrouds and stays and it makes it easy. Another tip is when you disconnect the front lower shrouds, bungee them to the mast separate from the rest of the stuff. That way you don't have to deal with them raising or lowering the mast.

 

[CloudDiver]

I use the plastic cable cuffs, reusable... like little ratchet jaws; (get several of the smallest size)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Small-Cable-Cuff-PRO-CFSP030808/204806547

It would be nice to have quick release pins on the shrouds, stays, lowers (not really plausible for the main shrouds because of the spreaders). I'm not sure that I would trust ball-detent style pins at those critical connections, but split rings are somewhat of a compromise... it would still be time consuming to remove them but easier that standard cotter pins. Finding a reliable quick release type pin for the masthead is worth some research.... hmmmmm.

I developed a spreader tip for the C22 with @StingySailor that would allow for quick release (kinda quick, it is two screws) of the shrouds from the spreader tips that would make for easier removal. The tips haven't been released yet, and they aren't so much a DIY item because they must be made on lathe. BTW, I use the work 'developed' loosely, since the idea isn't anything new at all... its just a smaller version of the C25 tips and Macgregor used them on older boats too. They are delrin tips that use a cap rather that seizing wire to hold the shorud. The idea is to prevent bi-metal corrosion between the spreader bar and stainless wire.

 

[dzl]

Delrin? Lathe? That's diy for me. Perks of having the other hobby of building choppers..

 

[CloudDiver]

Delrin? Lathe? That's diy for me. Perks of having the other hobby of building choppers..

I can send you pics of the protoypes, you could easily copy them. I'm looking at buying a Southbend 9C, but I have tons of boat work and now truck repairs to deal with before considering any new shop tools... plus I really want to gut my garage and resurface the floors (polished concrete and waxed) before starting any new DIY endeavors.

 

[dzl]

I've got a 50's Atlas 10x36 now. I'm not really any good at it.

 

[Gene Neill]

I got tired of bungee-balls flying out of my hand and going overboard or smacking me in the face. I just use my sail ties (30"-ish pieces of cheap 1/4" rope) to secure my rigging to the mast, using a quick-release reef knot.

As for the backstay specifically, I just lay it forward through the mast crutch and then (sloppily) coil it on the cockpit floor. It stays put just fine.

 

[CloudDiver]

I've just taken a look at all manner of available quick release pins and there are none that I would trust to secure the shrouds/stays at the masthead. I guess the easiest thing to do is just use split rings rather than cotter pins (cheapest) and you could at least get those off rather quickly compare to wrestling out cotter pins each time.
Another option would be to use 1/4" 20 type 316 bolts and a nyloc nut. You'd have to get longer ones so that the thread does not start until after it comes out of the other side of the mast head and then trim to length. Throw on some delrin washers to isolate both sides from the mast head. With a wrench and socket driver in hand you can loose these pretty quickly and I'd feel pretty confident that the nyloc nuts would not back off. The fact that you remove them after every sail will ensure you never have seized pins from corrosion. Just don't over torque them!

 

[LakeShark]

Thank you all for the responses. @Gene Neill I like the idea of just loosely leaving it lay in the cockpit but unfortunately I travel on almost an equal amount of gravel roads and poorly maintained country roads as I do nicely paved ones so I think i will need something to hold it a bit tighter. I think I will try @CloudDiver suggestion and use split rings. This will still allow me to have the cable secured to the mast and hopefully will be slightly less time than simply coiling it the way I have been. It will also force me to always check the backstay for possible snags before I raise the mast. Ill let you know hoe it goes as I am hoping to get out again this weekend.

 

[watercolors II]

The teardown of a sailboat for towing will always take much longer than set up. The item I have found that makes very secure lashings of the rigging is listed below! Being clear, during setup just use a knife to cut through it.

I coil my backstay onto the mast and use a short piece of line to secure the traveler ends. Removing extra stays adds so much more rigging time.

I also pull all the attached stays forward on the mast to keep the cockpit clear. If you have lifelines, take the main and front baby stay forward and out to the lifeline and attach with lashing to the top of the forward station and then above the cabin top to the mast so they do not rub on the sides of the cabin or deck.


https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-5-in-W-x-1000-ft-L-Clear-Plastic-Stretch-Wrap/50192327

 

[Leeward Rail]

I simply pull the lines and stays back towards the bow, and secure them to the mast with ball bungees that I bought for 16 cents each. Excess is coiled before securing.
I do have concerns about UV damage to halyards so I will be making a bag that can be secured around the mast and cover coiled up halyards, stays etc.

EDIT: I should mention that i have a flexible furler so leaving everything attached and coiling it up makes sense, since I'm not removing the furler foil.

 

[ShotgunSlim]

I second Gene on coiling the backstay on the cockpit floor. The only rigging I run forward is my forestay and I use ball bungees to hold it to the mast and put the quick release end into the front of the anchor locker. I re pin the forward lowers to the deck and loosely gather all three shrouds together on each side of the boat at one point and use a cheap metal shower curtain clip to secure them to the cabin top to keep them from flying around. Mind you, I have never trailered more than 100 miles at a shot but this is what has worked for me.