[davidpm]

This is a picture from a 1976 Sabre 28'.
What struck me odd was the extra stay connected to the cabin top.
I'm wondering it this was factory install and if so what was the idea. Seems like a flimsy place to attach a stay. Then again it is still doing it's job over 30 years later.

 

[riphonda]

Its actually well connected and adds effective stabilization

That forward lower stay was added to remedy the "mast pump" failure that the early sabres suffered from and consequently some even lost their rigs to the point that sabre immediately sought to fix the issue. The stay is bedded in a solid glass pad in the cabintop and works quite well- though it might not look like it is certainly attached solidly (no plywood to rot there just solid as a rock) Now the other chainplates, however, are prone to seeping water into the bulkheads which are usually questionable. I have the same boat and just had to replace the main bulkheads as there was nothing left of the wood after 33 years... only about an eighth of an inch of good wood left from 3/4" when new. Check out the rotten main bulkheads from the leaking chainplates, pretty gross:

 

[sailingdog]

David—

It looks like that forward lower stay's chainplate is through-bolted to the cabintop... since three bolts are clearly visible. Given that it is a third stay, and designed only to stop the mast from pumping, as riphonda said, the loads on it shouldn't be that high.