What’s the purpose of this part

[BonesD]

Howdy, I’ve got an older cutter rigged boat but have yet to be a sailer.
There is a 3/4” (shown in attached picture) solid bar centrally located side to side and placed not to far in front of the mast. I’m not sure of it’s purpose. My neighbor says it looks like it might have been used as a track for the staysail that once may have had a boom attached to it. Neither Yankee or the staysail has a boom now.
My question is my neighbor correct and do I need it anymore?
The ends curve down and enter the top of the cabin and attached with some very large nuts. One of them is dripping water into the cabin and the other is creating a large rust stain on deck.
It’s a handy place to tie stuff to but also a tripping hazard.
If it’s not a function of the sail platform any longer I want to remove it and seal the two deck holes or maybe install a couple eye bolts in it’s place.
One of the nuts moved a bit and the other with a 3/4” breaker bar and a 3 foot cheater haven’t moved it at all. I’m afraid to put any real pressure on it for fear of breaking the surrounding deck.
Anyway, if I don’t need it I can cut it out with a grinder from above and just push the remains with the nut down through into the cabin.
Thanks for your inputs.
BonesD

[hpeer]

Your neighbor is correct, staysail traveller.

You may want to reconsider the boom later. So if you take it off save it. Even if you have to cut it, then you have a model for the replacement.

Some folks hate the staysail boom, others love them.

[skipmac]

Neighbor is more or less correct.

That bar is where the sheet from the staysail attaches. When you tack the sheet will slide from one side to the other keeping the staysail trimmed correctly thus making it self tacking.

Depending on how staysail is cut and rigged it should work even without the staysail boom.

[Orion Jim]

It’s a horse for a self tending staysail booms sheet. They evolved to a track system with a car. Based on your intended sail plan you may decide to remove it. Personally I prefer a boomed staysail as it is self tending.

[markwesti]

What I want to know is , who thought it was a good idea to use something that would make that much rust . Well no matter there is a product called FSR , sold by Davis . The FSR will clean up that mess real quick .
Personally we like our staysail boom , that's unless it attacks us . haha.
The Shucker looks like a pretty cool boat . I think you would want the foredeck freed up so I would say don't go back to a Staysail boom . Unless you want one in that case they are easy to make out of Douglas Fir . Also (if you go with a boom) get a traveler , it doesn't have to have a means to keep it tight from side to side like the main traveler (if you want) but it will need a main sheet . Over the years people that own Westsails 28-32 have gotten rid of their Staysail booms , and to help trim the Staysail they add a "t" track on each side of the house and add sheets to the clew .

[Supercat568]

Originally Posted by BonesD

Howdy, I’ve got an older cutter rigged boat but have yet to be a sailer.
There is a 3/4” (shown in attached picture) solid bar centrally located side to side and placed not to far in front of the mast. I’m not sure of it’s purpose. My neighbor says it looks like it might have been used as a track for the staysail that once may have had a boom attached to it. Neither Yankee or the staysail has a boom now.
My question is my neighbor correct and do I need it anymore?
The ends curve down and enter the top of the cabin and attached with some very large nuts. One of them is dripping water into the cabin and the other is creating a large rust stain on deck.
It’s a handy place to tie stuff to but also a tripping hazard.
If it’s not a function of the sail platform any longer I want to remove it and seal the two deck holes or maybe install a couple eye bolts in it’s place.
One of the nuts moved a bit and the other with a 3/4” breaker bar and a 3 foot cheater haven’t moved it at all. I’m afraid to put any real pressure on it for fear of breaking the surrounding deck.
Anyway, if I don’t need it I can cut it out with a grinder from above and just push the remains with the nut down through into the cabin.
Thanks for your inputs.
BonesD

That my friend is an Acme deck rust stain creator/pitchpole towel bar combo. Don't listen to those other guys [emoji5]

[BonesD]

All great answers, I’ve got a much better idea of what is now and how to replace it as well.
Thanks all.

[AndyEss]

Originally Posted by Supercat568

That my friend is an Acme deck rust stain creator/pitchpole towel bar combo. Don't listen to those other guys [emoji5]

Beat me to it - except I was going to posit an pitchpole exercize chin-up bar.

[zeehag]

rebed it and be happy itis there..you will need it later for kitten pullups

[roverhi]

First thing I did when rigging our West Sail was get rid of the boom. Delivered two Westsail with booms and they were worthless unless hard on the wind and downright dangerous off the wind. Get rid of the traveller and hopefully some oxalic acid will get rid of the rust stains.

[Pete7]

Fire up the angle grinder and be done with it. Fill the holes in. Eye bolts will just be another trip hazard.

Pete

[BruceS]

Love the angle grinder!! Only takes 12 months for the metal particles to rust away to nothing & then a quick buff!!
Grrrrr!

[billgewater]

Lots of good advice above. .... but .....
If you do consider going back to a staysail boom, a common arrangement is to have the fwd base pivot point of the boom to be situated a bit (20 to 50 cm?) behind the inner forestay used for the staysail. What this can achieve is that the self tacking works better as the foot of the staysail automatically tightens as the boom moves towards the centreline and slackens as you go off the wind. i.e. automatically adjusts the sail shape. A cunning little old farts trick. This self adjusting mechanism fits with the lack of a deck car or fixed sheet adjustment blocks. I would consult an older sail maker to get the positioning and height of the pivot point correct.
Adjusting of sheets when sailing is not required at all. Simply, not needed. One less thing to worry about when sailing.
On my own tub (16 m Bermudian staysail ketch, launched 1978) I have this arrangement and it works well, but I would see what other identical boats have done.

We still have a deck track with a car that is rarely locked in any place. Removal of the track would involve pulling down the ceiling and filling all the deck holes so the track will stay there. Yes, I have snubbed my toes on it and it does hurt. Slow learner.
We sometimes use the boom as a support for a tent cover when at mooring. Handy.

If the boom gets in the way at deck level we just use a topping lift to raise it so it is nearly parallel to the inner forestay. We have also used this boom as a crane for lifting tenders etc. on to FWD part of the boat.

[CarinaPDX]

A stays'l with a boom is referred to as a club-footed stays'l. Since the stays'l clew is just forward of the mast, or thereabouts, the traveler works badly for sheeting a stays'l that doesn't have a club (it holds it down but not out). Working with a club there is an outhaul for holding the clew out and combined with the sheet that holds it down to the track the sail takes the correct shape. Without the club the stays'l sheet needs to be attached to a block on deck, or on a fore-aft track, that pulls the clew aft and down.

Whether or not you use a club foot is a personal choice: it is self-tacking, which makes short-handed sailing easier, but leaves the spar on the deck when not under sail and many find it in the way. I store my whisker and spinnaker poles on chocks on the stanchions, and if I ever wanted a club foot I would make it easily detachable to store on the stanchions as well.

Greg