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sandycohen · 17-01-2011, 17:01

I am looking at (actually have an offer in on) a 1984 Hunter 31.

I have been reading a bit on B&R rigs, and everything says they have no backstay, allowing for more mainsail roach.

This boat has, what to my eyes, is a backstay - it's a steel cable running from near the masthead towards the stern, amidship, and then splits into two cables that attach at the transom to port and starboard. How is this not a backstay?

sailorboy1 · 17-01-2011, 17:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandycohen

I am looking at (actually have an offer in on) a 1984 Hunter 31.

I have been reading a bit on B&R rigs, and everything says they have no backstay, allowing for more mainsail roach.

This boat has, what to my eyes, is a backstay - it's a steel cable running from near the masthead towards the stern, amidship, and then splits into two cables that attach at the transom to port and starboard. How is this not a backstay?

Because that boat isn't a B&R rigged boat.

sandycohen · 17-01-2011, 17:22

Don - Thanks for your reply. According to hunters literature on their website (they have the old brochure up) it is a B&R rig. Also, the spreaders are significantly swept-back and there is significant prebend in the mast which I understand to be trademarks of a B&R rig.

sailorboy1 · 17-01-2011, 17:35

OK you win!

nes · 17-01-2011, 18:11

While planning to sail a Spinaker from the top of my mast on a Hunter 326 (with a B&R rig), I found that there is no support to offset the force of it. The B&R rig shrouds only go up as high as the fractional gib. So, a professional rigger pointed out that prior to flying the spinaker, I would need to install a backstay from the top of the mast. More investigation in progress......

Sailmonkey · 17-01-2011, 18:24

Our friends have the same boat that you're looking at.....it has a B&R rig, and a small vestigal looking backstay attached to some u-bolts at the stern.

sandycohen · 17-01-2011, 19:09

Thanks sailmonkey. Kind of like a vestigal tail on early man?

What do your friends think of their h31? Are they on the Gulf
Coast also?

nes · 17-01-2011, 19:45

I have uploaded some pics and brief description from my owners manual on the B&R rig. They are in my profile, and I think I have uploaded some to this message.... well obviously I got the pics up here, except for the text from the manual. That is in my profile..

simonmd · 17-01-2011, 20:29

I've seen a late 90's Hunter 410 with the same setup. It deffinately had the swept back spreaders but also had a single 'backstay' running down to the stern. I wonder if some owners have fitted them for piece of mind?

Factor · 18-01-2011, 01:56

I quite like Hunters with B&R rigs, as cruising boats they seem to work well.

cal40john · 18-01-2011, 02:27

Rumor I heard was even though the B&R didn't need a backstay Hunter didn't think they could sell the boat without a backstay.

This book though says that initially when the B&R rig was designed it was thought a backstay was required, but after some experimentation it was found that the backstay wasn't needed.

Yacht Design Explained: A Sailor's ... - Google Books

CarlF · 18-01-2011, 04:04

Whle you don't need a backstay on a B&R rig, it certainly couldn't hurt (belts and suspenders).

The Ron Holland designed Discovery 55 has a B&R rig and a sizable backstay. In the picture you can see between the spreaders the B&R "X" formed by the "reverse diagonal" shrouds.

I'm not sure why the boat is rigged this way. The mainsail is mast furled so there's not much roach. The B&R is supposed to provide a thinner mast section that is extremely stiff and tunable - and no forward lowers get in the way of the close sheeted blade jib.