[sailingdog]

Technically, what you're using are baby shrouds, not stays. Stays support a mast fore-and-aft... shrouds support it athwartships...

Originally Posted by CaptKermie

I have not heard of baby stays in any other context other than their use with trailerable sailboats like mine.
When trailering, the mast is carried along the length of the boat from bow to stern, at the launch ramp the mast is raised. Here is when Baby Stays come into play. I use a mast raising brake winch to raise the mast up, the mast is hinged at the base and the winch is on a gin pole which is secured by one end on the bow cleat and the other connected to a bail on the mast and I winch it up with the brake winch. The Baby Stays are connected to prevent the mast from swinging either to port or to starboard while raising the mast so that the mast base does not get twisted from 30' of mast torque twisting it. Once the mast is raised and pinned in place it is safe to remove the Baby Stays. I find they getin my way when up on the deck so I always remove them, but I know of several others who are a bit shorter than me that pass under them effortlessly so are not a hazard but moreso, an extra grab hold when on deck for them. The shrouds, if tightened to specs (as mine are)prevent any undue pumping that could take place so mast pumping is not an issue in my case. I am not familiar with your boat and set-up but I thought I might shed another perspective on the purpose of Baby Stays.