Baby stay on my Scampi 30 - keep or ditch?

[sailingdog]

I figured as much... most fractional rigs have no need of a babystay and far less risk of the mast pumping that way, due to being fractionally rigged.

Originally Posted by jarcher

It is indeed. And the back stay is adjustable. And as was suggested, I am looking to get the shrouds back to their original design. Looks like I am stuck with the baby stay. More work for the fore deck crew walking the sail accross the deck on every tack!

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by Swesail

Absolutely keep it. And make sure it is in good shape. I wouldn’t dare to use a spinnaker on a Scampi without a baby stay. I was crewing on a Scampi during an extremely windy race and we snapped the baby stay. The outcome was far from pretty.

I dont get it..what value does a babystay have while flying a spinnaker? Seems to me that if you have the babystay set on, with a spinnaker up, you run a risk of breaking the babystay...

[Swesail]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

I dont get it..what value does a babystay have while flying a spinnaker? Seems to me that if you have the babystay set on, with a spinnaker up, you run a risk of breaking the babystay...

You are right; maybe I shouldn’t have argued Scampi in general. I have only sailed on one Scampi. But on that boat the mast bended like a banana with spinnaker and a broken baby stay. Maybe it was that particular boat that had a mast with poor rigidity. But then again, I think that the baby stay is an original feature on the boat type so maybe the rigidity of the rig is an understood entity(?)

[jarcher]

Originally Posted by Swesail

You are right; maybe I shouldn’t have argued Scampi in general. I have only sailed on one Scampi. But on that boat the mast bended like a banana with spinnaker and a broken baby stay. Maybe it was that particular boat that had a mast with poor rigidity. But then again, I think that the baby stay is an original feature on the boat type so maybe the rigidity of the rig is an understood entity(?)

Okay, but the spinnaker pulls the mast forward, or to the side, or both. The baby stay also pulls the mast forward, although from a point lower than the mast head.

So how does the baby stay help?

[Swesail]

Originally Posted by jarcher

Okay, but the spinnaker pulls the mast forward, or to the side, or both. The baby stay also pulls the mast forward, although from a point lower than the mast head.

So how does the baby stay help?

Think of the mast as an arc pulled forward in the top, held fix at the base, while remembering that the back stay isn’t a straight backwards force but rather with a significant downward component. If you want to straight out that arc (or rather make sure it’s not an arc but rather a straight pole), where do you apply the force? Baby stay… I wish I knew how to upload SW drawings…

[jarcher]

Originally Posted by Swesail

Think of the mast as an arc pulled forward in the top, held fix at the base, while remembering that the back stay isn’t a straight backwards force but rather with a significant downward component. If you want to straight out that arc (or rather make sure it’s not an arc but rather a straight pole), where do you apply the force? Baby stay… I wish I knew how to upload SW drawings…

So the spinnaker causes the mast to bow aft. I see, thanks. If you email me the drawings (my email in my profile) I'll post them and provide a link, thanks!

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by Swesail

... But on that boat the mast bended like a banana with spinnaker and a broken baby stay. ..

The broken babystay would have had nothing to do with amount of mast bend, the likely explanation is a clueless skipper had left the backstay on at the windward mark.

The spinnaker pulls at the top of the mast on and on the sheets, it can't add mast bend, although it can do plenty of other nasty things...