removing forestay

[noreault]

I have to remove the forestay which has no (corrected typo) turnbuckle. I have plenty of halyards, 4 to be exact, to tension the front of the mast. Can I tension the halyards to free the forestay, or do I have to tension the halyard and then loosen the backstay? Do the shrouds have to be loosen at all? Thanks for the advice.

[CalebD]

I assume that by saying your fore stay has 'do turnbuckle' and you meant do'h or 'no turnbuckle' visible under the roller furling or what not of your boat?
Yes, you should use your halyards to secure your mast with the rest of the rigging and no, you should not have to release too much tension on your other stays/shrouds.
If your rig is keel steeped it is less important but still advisable. Deck mounted masts always require support from all quarters to stay up.

[Omatako]

If you haul the mast forward on a halyard there is no need to do anything else. Use two halyards just in case one is bad and snaps (especially if you're deck-stepped).

[knothead]

Originally Posted by Omatako

If you haul the mast forward on a halyard there is no need to do anything else. Use two halyards just in case one is bad and snaps (especially if you're deck-stepped).

Unless your rigging is very loose, the job will go easier if you slacken the backstay, mainsheet and vang before hardening up the halyards forward.

[davewild]

Good advice from all. We detach forestay quite often to lower mast to go under bridges. Secure 2 halyards to something solid. I take them to 2 good size shackles on the same fitting the forestay attaches to. Ease off backstay mainsheet and vang. Winch on each halyard in turn, gradually taking up load on each until forestay is just loose enough. Double cleat both halyards or cleat and tie off if 2nd cleat not available. I would be happy to take you through mast lowering but most boats are not set up for it(you need a hinge between deck and boom level)

[noreault]

Thanks for the responses. It is a keel-stepped mast, so no lowering on hinges . Thanks for all the advice. I just need to release the forestay to install a headsail furler.