IMAGES

  1. Ullman Sails Series: Part III The Backstay

    sailboat backstay rigging

  2. sailboat wire backstay boom

    sailboat backstay rigging

  3. HOW I USE MY BACKSTAY IN SAIL TRIM

    sailboat backstay rigging

  4. Sail Boat Rig Checks

    sailboat backstay rigging

  5. What is Sailboat Rigging?

    sailboat backstay rigging

  6. Know-how: Modern Rigs 101

    sailboat backstay rigging

COMMENTS

  1. Upgrade Your Rig With a DIY Adjustable Backstay

    Another benefit of an adjustable backstay is that after a day of sailing with a tight backstay in a strong breeze, you can slacken the backstay to let the rig relax and release tension on the hull while your sailboat is moored. Direct vs. indirect backstays. Adjustable backstay designs fall into two types: direct and indirect.

  2. How to set up running backstays on your sailboat

    The cutter rig distributes the sail area over an additional sail, and that inner forestay is a superior position from which to hank on a low-flown storm sail. But with any real force upon it, the inner forestay can distort the shape of the mast; this will require a countereffort. Enter the intermediate running backstay.

  3. Standing Rigging (or 'Name That Stay')

    A sailboat's standing rigging is generally built from wire rope, rod, or occasionally a super-strong synthetic fibered rope such as Dyneema ®, carbon fiber, kevlar or PBO. 1×19 316 grade stainless steel Wire Rope (1 group of 19 wires, very stiff with low stretch) is standard on most sailboats. Wire rope is sized/priced by its diameter which ...

  4. How Tight Should Your Stays Be?

    It is easy to think of standing rigging and running rigging as two different parts on a sailboat, but in fact, they both share the same goal: Allow your yacht to sail. ... Ideally, you want to have a backstay adjuster present that way you can adjust your headstay tension while you sail along. Headstay tension is the last stay that should be ...

  5. Explaining The Standing Rigging On A Sailboat

    The difference between standing rigging and running rigging. Sometimes things can get confusing as some of our nautical terms are used for multiple items depending on the context. Let me clarify just briefly: The rig or rigging on a sailboat is a common term for two parts:. The standing rigging consists of wires supporting the mast on a sailboat and reinforcing the spars from the force of the ...

  6. How to set up your rig: tension your shrouds on

    Step 5: Check the rig under sail. As with other types of rig, get the boat heeling around 20° on the wind, tension the backstay and feel the leeward cap to make sure there's only minimal slack. Removing any kinks and S-bends can take more tweaking of lowers and intermediates, the latter being more fiddly to adjust if they're discontinuous.

  7. Master The Running Rigging On A Sailboat: Illustrated Guide

    The running rigging on a sailboat is the lines and ropes controlling the sails and equipment. Get in the cockpit, and let's cruise through this guide together! ... Running Backstay. Running backstays is similar to a normal backstay but uses a line instead of a hydraulic tensioner. Some rigs have additional check stays or runners as well.

  8. Choosing a Backstay Adjuster

    Whether you're cruising or racing, an adjustable backstay is a helpful device for changing sail shape and controlling forestay tension for improved upwind and downwind performance. By dialing in the right backstay tension you can increase boatspeed. Regardless of whether you have a masthead or fractional rig, using an adjustable backstay is essential to good sail shape.

  9. Know-how: Modern Rigs 101

    A boat with a fractional rig, on the other hand, had its forestay attached 3/4 to 7/8 of the distance from the cabintop to masthead, had well-swept spreaders, carried a larger mainsail and smaller jib, and had a spar that was designed to be tweaked with adjustable backstay tension.

  10. Getting the Most From Your Backstay

    When the backstay is eased, the top of the mainsail is much fuller, creating a more powerful shape. Mike Ingham. When the backstay is tensioned, the main is noticeably flatter, especially near the ...

  11. Backstay Tensioner

    Backstay Tensioner. Easy Upgrades: #1 of a seriesEvery fractionally rigged boat will have (or should have) a means of adjusting backstay tension. Its main purpose is to flatten and depower the mainsail in stronger winds, putting off the time at which a reef will be required. Because very few masthead-rigged boats are provided with backstay ...

  12. Running backstay

    A running backstay is a rigging component on a sailboat which helps support the mast. [1] [2] A running backstay runs from each lateral corner of the stern to the mast at the level where the forestay begins in the fractional rig.Because they are attached low on the mast, they can present a significant problem in an accidental gybe, as the boom hits the stay, with the possibility of breaking ...

  13. The Highfield Lever

    By The Rigging Company June 8, 2014. The Highfield lever was originally invented by the late Mr J. S. Highfield in about 1930. I believe this concept was initially intended to load and release running backstays at a predesignated tension. This method for runner tensioning has since been replaced with 'high speed' synthetics, fancy blocks ...

  14. When do I use my backstay?

    The backstay is a powerful tool and you should introduce it to your toolbox for more than just keeping the rig in the boat. No matter what the rig type or stiffness the tensioning the backstay keeps the headstay from sagging. Headstay sag equals extra power in the headsail, so when you don't want the power (heeling too much) use the backstay. On boats with rigs that bend, the backstay helps ...

  15. Backstay

    Backstay. A backstay is a piece of standing rigging on a sailing vessel that runs from the mast to either its transom or rear quarter, counteracting the forestay and jib. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on the shape of the mainsail and the headsail. Backstays are generally adjusted by block and tackle, hydraulic ...

  16. Harken Boasts Best Overall Quality Among Backstay Adjusters

    As with virtually all Harken gear, the Harken backstay adjuster is a quality piece of work. Made in Italy by Barbarossa (which Harken owns), it comes in four sizes (pin sizes from 1/2″ to 3/4″) and standard strokes from 5-1/2″ to 8-11/16″, with custom lengths available in the two larger models. The 7/16″ and 1/2″ pin models have ...

  17. Backstay Split Rigging?

    8,416. Hunter 30T Cheney, KS. Aug 9, 2024. #3. That end is foreign to me too. I use one of my Loos gauges to adjust my split backstay. Basically I just adjust to equal tension on both sides. My first Loos gauge fit all my rigging on my old Mac26S. I had to buy the larger one to set my sidestays on Bella.

  18. Backstay & Babystay Rigging

    A backstay is a part of the standing rigging that runs from the mast to back of the boat, counteracting the forestay and headsail. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on the shape of the mainsail and the headsail. Backstays are generally adjusted by block and tackle, hydraulic adjusters, or lines leading to winches.

  19. How to Tune a Sailboat Mast

    1. Check by sighting up the backside of the mast to see how straight your spar is side to side. You can take a masthead halyard from side to side to ensure that the masthead is on center. Do this by placing a wrap of tape 3′ up from the upper chainplate pin hole on each upper shroud. Cleat the halyard and pull it to the tape mark on one side ...

  20. Single Sideband Insulators for Backstays

    A New Backstay using Compact Strand 1×19, Hayn Hi-mod Failsafe Insulators. Maintaining the Oyster Yachts Factory Spec's. SSB is a commonly used abbreviation that stands for single side band radio. We are certainly not radio experts here at The Rigging Company. ... Therefore, they cannot be re-used when it's time to replace the boat's ...

  21. Attaching things to the standing rigging

    Boat: Tartan 3800. Posts: 5,165. Attaching things to the standing rigging. There are various things that one might want to attach to the shrouds or backstay: A small antenna. The block for a flag halyard. Lights or light boards. A cleat for a boom tent. Radar.

  22. Are backstays really necessary?

    Rigging is designed; it doesn't just happen. Fractional rigged boats and especially B&R fractional rigged boats are a special breed. There is a long but very informative discussion on the design criteria, strengths and tuning characteristics of these rigs here in the Knowledgebase which gives lots of good info but probably irrlevent to someone with a Catalina on which the backstay is even more ...

  23. Is there any safety issues with boats not having backstays?

    Rig loads are pretty dynamic and there is some inherent redundancy for the forestay and backstay with the jib luff absorbing some of the forestay load and the mainsail leech and sheet absorbing some of the load from the backstay. The most critical stay is the windward cap shroud, if this should fail the mast or part of the mast will come down.

  24. Sailing Avocet: A New Adventure Begins

    Every boat has a story. Few tell those stories better than Cruising World's newest ambassadors, Marissa and Chris—the crew of Avocet, a 1979 41-foot Cheoy Lee. ... making the mast easier to adjust for optimum performance by making small adjustments to the standing rigging. Going upwind, the backstay, runners and check stays can have tension ...

  25. Sailing Lessons from a Small Boat

    Rigging and Sailhandling. On a sailboat, we can't just turn a key and push a throttle forward; first we have to hoist the sails, and then we have to trim them. On our own boats, we also have to rig any lines that are stowed away between adventures. Small boats have the same basic lines found on bigger boats, with the same (non-intuitive) names.

  26. Sporty and Simple is the ClubSwan 28

    The ClubSwan 28 is the smallest model ever produced by Nautor Swan. Nautor Swan. Among race boats today, 28 to 30 feet is the cusp between sportboat and yacht, and the ClubSwan 28 is more the ...