Running backstays

[GrantBrewer]

Hi everyone thoughts please on running backstays on my recently purchased Swanson 36 with cruising keel inner forestay furler which is not fitted at present,do I need to use all the time or weather dependant, I have plenty of sailing experience but not with these

Thanks heaps Grant

[SailRedemption]

Usually you use running backs for upwind work. The windward side of the boat running back is usually the only one you use. So if your staysail is on port side you use the stbd running backstay. It prevents the mast from pumping when going to windward.

[roverhi]

For the mast specifications of a cruising boat, running backs are mainly needed when winds pipe up. One of the first W32's to make significant passage did a roundtrip to SoPac without running backstays. He got caught in some bad weather on the sail down from the PNW on the last leg of the trip. He happened to look up at the mast and saw it pumping so badly from the staysail stay/sail that he immediately turned left into SF and installed running backs before continuing onto to SoCal. Of course that was after he'd sailed the boat well over 10,000 miles without running backs.