To get back to the first question, yes, your idea will work, but don't sell that staysail short. We use ours probably 75% of the time. Going to weather it gives us at least another kt, more with more wind. Then when the wind gets too much for the yankee jib to handle well we just roll it up and go with main and staysail. Next comes a reef in the main - and under this setup the boat balances beautifully and track as though on rails. When things get too heavy for that we pop a second reef in the main and she still handles well. If things get too heavy for that setup (it'd have to be well over 30kt) we crank up the Perkins and usually
say to heck with it and look for a place to park!
Yes, your idea of setting the staysail up on a removable stay will work, but I think you'll find that you use it a lot more than you anticipate - depending, of course, on the average winds where you sail - so you may want to set it up on a regular inner stay instead.
BTW - we are still using our little club boom and a hank on sail, but I plan to put a roller furler on it soon.
As to those of you who have heaters and such - egad ... not my kind of sailing weather. mon. In de Islans de tempature neva get undah 80f cept in de night time, and den we haf ta put on a T-shirt. Come on down de Islans, mon ... it doan snow in de Islans!
