install inner stay

[arch007]

I have roller furler.

In preparation for offshore i was thinking of installing an inner stay for a hank on storm jib.

Is it easy to install ? Can it be done with the mast up ?

Would it be better to go with a gale sail ?

Thanks

[UNCIVILIZED]

Installation is relatively easy if you've any talent with tools. But doing it with the mast up makes it 10x harder. At least via the older, normal method of installing one & the halyard. But if you were to go with a Colligo Marine Cheeky Tang, I'd think that that would simplify things greatly. Though that does mean going with a synthetic forestay (Dyneema). Not that that's at all a problem. They're pretty well proven.

And if you are planning on doing this, you're probably better off to mount the head of this stay just below your current headstay & roller furling gear. Since mounting it in this, the Solent Stay position, you don't necessarily need running backstays as well. Normally they're used to balance out some of the loads imposed on a mast tube by a cutter stay.

Note that even if you mount the head of the stay in the Solent Stay position, just below your forestay, you can still connect the lower end of the stay where a Staysail stay would normally be attached on deck. But be aware that you need to have a stout anchor point for the stay, usually connecting it's tang to a strong bulkhead. Or via a below decks stay, to the stem.

I would strongly advocate against a Gale Sail, for a number of reasons. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by going that route. Their aerodynamics are poor, ditto their shape. The center of effort of your sailplan is too far forward, etc.

If you use one of the many search functions here on CF, you can look up all of the pertinent topics. Such as Solent Stays, Cutter Stays, Storm Jibs, Synthetic Rigging, etc.

Here are but a couple of what are probably scores of links on the topic:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ay-127556.html
https://www.practical-sailor.com/iss...y_11824-1.html


You may also wish to pick up a copy of some of Brion Toss's books on rigging. They explain quite a bit of the how & why of what goes into a rig.