Here's a thought - if you have a headsail
furler and any kind of
backstay tensioner, always leave firm tension on the backstay. It's obvious enough when sailing since you need the forestay under tension for the
furler to
work, but I had the idea that de-tensioning the backstay (and hence forestay) while away from the
boat would conserve the rig somehow.
I learned the hard way when my forestay snapped on the marina (alright - maybe not the hardest way since the marina is where you want to snap a forestay if its gonna happen). It snapped right under the furler drum as a result of metal fatigue caused by the heavy drum and furled sail moving slightly on a loose forestay while unattended. I am sooo glad this didn't happen at sea else we prolly would have
lost the entire rig and may have injured or killed crew in the process. As it was, about 80 knots of
wind made sure that the flying furler drum smashed out every portlight down the port side, the headsail was shredded and the furler mouldings written off too. Then I dropped the wreckage straight through the forward
hatch by
accident, working to free it from the masthead - one of those expensive tempered glass hatches too - oof.