Is jack stay necessary on C&C 34??

[jakesokol]

Every time I tack my brand new genoa rubs against a jack stay or strut that I have on my C&C 34 just forward of the mast some 4 feet, that attaches half way up. I can easily remove the jack stay and in lighter winds I am not too concerned but do I need to have that jackstay in place in heavier winds. It really eats at my new genoa on every tack.

thank you for any input

[tommays]

We call it a baby stay on are C&C 35 and we have a quick release on the base to stow it on the mast BUT in heavy going it is inportant as the mast will pump pretty bad

[Faster]

As tommays says you may need it in bigger seas to avoid pumping... it also depends on how dependant the rig is on that babystay for mast bend/mainsail shape control. If you rarely adjust this stay, and don't feel you have a pumping issue, then try without it for awhile.

If you decide to keep it, a piece of 2" ABS or PVC pipe around it will eliminate most of the hangups.. you can also try using longer bowlines, or a larks head for tying on your sheets to try to minimize the bulk at the clew that tends to catch.

[john1066]

Good advice above.

It's a babystay. A Jack Stay runs fore and aft and you clip your harness tether to it. It keeps the Jacks (sailors) from falling overboard.

A piece of plastic pipe around the baystay will allow the bowlines to roll past it when you tack.

[BarryL]

Hello,

I crew on a well prepared C&C 34 for the wednesday night racing. The first thing we do is remove the babystay and clip it to the mast base plate. I have raced in winds up to 30 kts and we never used the babystay and we have not had any mast pumping.

We do reconnect the babystay as part of the post race clean up (but I'm not sure why).

Barry

[jakesokol]

BarryL,

That is interesting to hear. We actually had some issues on my C&C 34 last night in our Wednedsay night racing series. Nice winds so some havoc can be expected. We blew out the mainsheet block just prior to the start of the race in sequence on a jibe.

THe other more disturbing issue was some serious mast bend between the spreaders and the top of the mast. The mast was bowing to port right where D2 meets the mast on the port side on a port tack. Winds were 15-20, but that should not happen at all. We put the babystay back on and reefed the jib so as to not break the mast. Once under control we tried to tension up the port shroud. That helped a little. but still some mast bend. My conclusion is that i probably need a proffesionsl rigger to give my C&C 34 a once over. Have you ever had this mast bend issue?

regards,
jake

[Faster]

Was the babystay attached with that condition? It does sound like the rig will need some tweaking. Are you sure this is a 'new' situation or just recently noticed??

[jakesokol]

Faster,
Probably "a recently noticed" situation but accentuated because of the stronger winds. I put the babystay on and it helped a bit. but the bend or "bowing" of the mast is to port and starboard, not bow to aft. I would think the babystay would minimixe the bow/aft bend direction as opposed to the port/starboard bend direction.

thanks,
jake

[BarryL]

Hello,

The owner has the yard tune the rigging at the beginning of the season, then we sail with the sailmaker early on and make the final adjustments. This year, the rig, as set by the yard, was very soft. going upwind in 15 kts apparent, the lee stays and shrouds were completely loose and the main was falling off to leeward by at least a foot. After the owner sailed with the sailmaker, they made a number of adjustments and now the rig is perfect. Unfortunately, i wasn't there so I don't know what was done, but I suspect it was just a simple matter of adjusting the turnbuckles.

This boat has rod rigging. I don't think that makes a difference, but that's what the boat has.

I think your idea of taking a rigger for a ride is a great idea and will really benefit you. When the mast was loose it really affected the pointing ability.

Barry