Does a sloop need an inner forestay?

[mickelsen]

Originally Posted by beiland

I believe you are correct. It is an inner forestay, not a baby stay. The only real usefulness of it might be to counter some inversion that might occur if you were sailing in heavy weather with a reefed mainsail. Perhaps check out were the head of your mainsail ends up when it is reefed, particularly at its second reef point.

For the light air sailing that predominates your area I would say just detach it at its bottom connection and make an arrangement for reattaching if heavy weather or inversion occurs.

If your winds were more often really variable in strength (both strong and gentle), then I might make the recommendation that you carry a smaller staysail on this stay for use in higher winds. But it does not appear as though you need this.

Not enough keel and I suspect it is not led but iron. I refuse to go on. Go buy a Santa Cruz 27 and learn to sail on that.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by mickelsen

Not enough keel and I suspect it is not led but iron. I refuse to go on. Go buy a Santa Cruz 27 and learn to sail on that.

Please explain this post.. it seems a non sequitur to me.

Jim

[phetploy]

Originally Posted by mickelsen

Not enough keel and I suspect it is not led but iron. I refuse to go on. Go buy a Santa Cruz 27 and learn to sail on that.

Don't tell me, you just happen to have one for sale. What makes you think I want to go back to a 27 foot boat, or need to "learn to sail?. I guess every forum has its troll quota. By the way, the keel is "led"[sic]. Sail area/displacement ratio is 17.67 and ballast/displacement ratio 44%, with a ballast of 5.44 tonnes

[Jack Hattingh]

I suggest you read "The argument for an inner forestay" in Sail World of 1 August 2010 on the web. It tell's you all.

[phetploy]

Originally Posted by Jack Hattingh

I suggest you read "The argument for an inner forestay" in Sail World of 1 August 2010 on the web. It tell's you all.

Thanks Jack, I have to say I entirely agree with the argument for a staysail, Yankee and running backstays for people making long passages and water sailing">blue water sailing, and for people sailing in, for example, Scottish or New Zealand offshore conditions. I had a cutter rig on my first boat, Trammel on the Scottish East Coast, together with a rotating boom to reef the gaff rigged main. was a 21 foot classic Itchen Ferry on the Scottish East Coast. The rig was a lifesaver on a passage to Norway when we were caught in a f8 gale. The tiny boat handled the conditions admirably, running before the wind and waves with the main reefed down until the gaff touched the boom and the storm jib hanked on the inner forestay.
Now I do almost all my sailing in Phetploy in the sheltered waters of the Gulf of Thailand and rarely if ever, encounter winds of 35 knots or more. Even 25 knot winds are a rarity and probably occur less than 20 days per year, either during the period of the NE monsoon when they blow off the land over relatively calm water or associated with large thunderstorm systems and preceding the storm, dying away as soon as the rain begins.

So the expense, time and effort of switching rigs is not really worth it, unless I want to make a passage across the Indian Ocean or something. At that point I will look hard at the options.

[Pole]

I had exactly the same issue as the OP. Teeth clenched every time I tack as I drag my nice new genoa through the slot.I had a look at my rigging - lowers fore and aft, running back stays (also hardly ever used) and decided I'd enjoy my sailing a lot more if my inner forestay was out the way.

I fitted a quick release and attached the inner with some good tension (but not too much) just forward of the lower shrouds on the toerail.

Its been like that for 4 years now - and I've been caught in some +35 kt winds more than once - one of the joys of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.

Reckon when I do a long passage with long tacks I'll put the inner forestay back where she belongs for that time.

But the rest of the time I can tell you I've had no issues with either performance, or being concerned the rigs about to fall down.