We potentially need to replace the rear stay and chain plate on our 1973 C-27 standard rig and make some associated fiberglass repairs and reinforcement in that area. I have seen an early 80s vintage C-27 tall rig with a split rear stay. Would anyone have any comments about the potential benefits (if any) of replacing our current single backstay with a split backstay. Perhaps there are good reasons to keep it simple and just replace/reinforce the original backstay/chainplate system. I hope we can benefit from other people’s experiences. Anybody? Thank you in advance for your help. Paul Meyer Fredericton, New Brunswick Canada
- Status
Backstay Adjuster
Paul: There are 4 elements, and ONLY 4 elements, of sail trim that you are adjusting with your sail trim controls on the main and jib and they are draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack. Mast bend is used to adjust draft depth (belly) and draft position. Mast bend is what you see on a J boat - picture your index finger when you bend it. What happens with mast bend is the middle of the sail is pulled tight thus eliminating the fullness. Here's the problem with a Catalina mast - it is similiar to trying to bend a telephone pole!! You can't bend it to look like the J boat mast. You can only RAKE it aft. In effect what you are doing when you rake a mast is literally picking the mast up off the deck and moving it aft. All that does is increase weather helm. So now that you have all the facts you can make a sound decision. On my Catalina30 I had a beautiful Garhauer split backstay setup. I never bothered using the splitter but it looked trick sitting there!! We've discussed the back stay adjuster a number of times over on the sail trim forumon this site. There are a lot of great sailors over there that are more than happy to answer all your sail trim questions.
Paul: There are 4 elements, and ONLY 4 elements, of sail trim that you are adjusting with your sail trim controls on the main and jib and they are draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack. Mast bend is used to adjust draft depth (belly) and draft position. Mast bend is what you see on a J boat - picture your index finger when you bend it. What happens with mast bend is the middle of the sail is pulled tight thus eliminating the fullness. Here's the problem with a Catalina mast - it is similiar to trying to bend a telephone pole!! You can't bend it to look like the J boat mast. You can only RAKE it aft. In effect what you are doing when you rake a mast is literally picking the mast up off the deck and moving it aft. All that does is increase weather helm. So now that you have all the facts you can make a sound decision. On my Catalina30 I had a beautiful Garhauer split backstay setup. I never bothered using the splitter but it looked trick sitting there!! We've discussed the back stay adjuster a number of times over on the sail trim forumon this site. There are a lot of great sailors over there that are more than happy to answer all your sail trim questions.
Decision re: backstay
Thanks Don for your response. It looks like we'll be staying with the original single backstay system. As you said, a split backstay would not provide much, if any, performance advantage and we can see that it would cost more in dollars, time, and cockpit space while adding complexity and potential points of failure. Not that tough a decision. Paul
Thanks Don for your response. It looks like we'll be staying with the original single backstay system. As you said, a split backstay would not provide much, if any, performance advantage and we can see that it would cost more in dollars, time, and cockpit space while adding complexity and potential points of failure. Not that tough a decision. Paul
- Status