Staysail rigging

[Acadia]

Hi, I have a 1985 H40 and it's rigged with an inner stay. I don't have a sail for it yet but would like to get one. Only thing puzzling me is that there are no tracks near the mast for the sheet.

Is there a way to use a staysail on the inner stay without adding tracks? I could put a couple of blocks on either side of the mast close to the base but I'm not sure how well that would work.

Do you have a similar setup on a sloop? Where is the track or block located on deck for the sheet?

Thanks

[tommays]

We use a block on the toe rail

[Acadia]

Nice Vid

I guess that would limit how sheeted in you could have this sail, but with the spin no prob. My goal for the use of this staysail would be to use it in stronger winds when the 145 genoa would be mostly furled up. I guess I will try different attachment points see how it works.

Thanks

[St Anna]

I have a cutter rig and I usually leave the inner forestay off in order to allow free sweep of the foredeck when tacking. I have lengthened the attachment to allow it to be bent just behind the furler. This allows me to hank on the inner jib and it is self tacking. So I can just steer the boat and set teh main and the inner jib [ now acting as a 3/4 rig] This is great if I am lazy or have a narrowish channel to negotiate.

I have a track on the cabin top and run the sheets back to the cockpit.

This works well enough and I have thought of getting a yankee cut for this space as we can have a wet foredeck in choppy stuff.

So in short, I think your idea is great.

[RichH]

Originally Posted by Acadia

Hi, I have a 1985 H40 and it's rigged with an inner stay. I don't have a sail for it yet but would like to get one. Only thing puzzling me is that there are no tracks near the mast for the sheet.

Is there a way to use a staysail on the inner stay without adding tracks? I could put a couple of blocks on either side of the mast close to the base but I'm not sure how well that would work.

Do you have a similar setup on a sloop? Where is the track or block located on deck for the sheet?

Thanks

The best way to set up a staysail without tracks is with a HOYT BOOM or clubfoot with vang. This is important for a 'true' self-tacking staysail or to adequately control the staysl shape when the boat is 'off the wind'.

Otherwise to properly control 'twist' in a staysail you will need the exact same arrangement as how you set up 'any' jib/genoa - tracks, etc. that intersect at a 10 degree angle from the boat's centerline and from the tack of the sail to its clew .... PLUS a means to control the fore/aft + in/out (from the centerline) fairlead adjustment of the clew, etc.

Many cutters use an 'across the deck type traveller' but with poor results vs. 'sail twist', especially when the stays'l is trimmed for less than a beat or high close reach; as, without being able to adjust the fairlead angle a staysail when flown from a close reach all the way down to DDW will usually *always* be open/flogging at the head, grossly overtrimmed at the bottom panels ... and only the mid panel section 'working'.
The HoytBoom (or equivalent) prevents all this 'impossible to control, poor sail shape' ... and no matter what angle (of attack) a stays'l is flown.


FWIW (trivia) - the 'stay' immediately 'in front' of a mast is called the forestay, even if its 'temporary' ... and the use of a (even temporary) forestay 'demotes' the stay in front of this configuration to then be called a 'headstay'.
A staysail is flown on the forestay; hence its 'unshortened' name: FOREstay-sail or stays'l.

;-)

[genieskip]

FWIW (trivia) - the 'stay' immediately 'in front' of a mast is called the forestay, even if its 'temporary' ... and the use of a (even temporary) forestay 'demotes' the stay in front of this configuration to then be called a 'headstay'.
A staysail is flown on the forestay; hence its 'unshortened' name: FOREstay-sail or stays'l.



I agree with this 100%. I am annoyed by the way in recent years people have been calling it an "inner forestay". I think the confusion came about because in the old days, when boats had bowsprits, the headstay went to the end of the bowsprit and the forestay went to the bow. When long bowsprits became obsolete some people kept calling the stay that went to the bow forestays and that required a new name for the inner stay on a cutter. Hence, the badly named "inner forestay". Since the forestays'l was attached to that stay it couldn't get a new name, it still had to be called a forestay, but since some people kept calling the stay on the bow the forestay they had to bend things all sorts of ways to make it fir.

Let's call things by their right names and drop the "inner forestay". When we talk about the tension on the forwardmost stay we talk about "headstay tension", when we hank the forestaysail we use the forestay. A minor point, perhaps, but sailors are traditionalists and nomenclature is important to us.