Back Stay Adjuster

[Dennis Truett]

Ladies & Gentelmen,
Since I'm getting into some recreational racing with my CD26, and doing well on occasion, Ive become curious about Back stay adjusters.
Could someone explain the use of the adjuster as to when you tighten and loosen it, and the theory behind it.

Thanks In advance for your time!

Dennis Truett
CD26D SummerWind

[Don Carr]

Dennis;
Back stay adjusters accomplish 2 things: 1). Bend the top part of a bendable mast back so that the 'pocket' of the mainsail moves forward and 2). Tightens the forestay so that there is little or no 'fall off' of the jib in upwind or high wind situations.

The theory is that up-wind you tighten the backstay and down-wind release the back stay tension. As the wind gets stonger (over 15 knots), generally tensioning the backstay and applying cunningham will
shape your mainsail better by moving the draft forward and reducing lift while increasing drive.

My only caution on CD's is that the rig(mast) is not really designed to be bendable. Just look at J-boats rig the mast acutally has a taper and was engineered for bend. However I think that some easily modifiable adjuster to the backstay would be helpful on the boat, especially with any kind of fall-off of the forestay, which will happen if the rigging is tuned for average conditions. The other point I would mention is that downwind an extremely loose backstay will definitely speed the boat up.

IMHO



carrds@us.ibm.com

[larry mace]

Dennis,
In general you would use the tighten the backstay to induce bend at the top of the mast to twist off the head of the main to depower when heading to weather. Depending on where your jib stay is attached you may need to adjust the halyard tension after you apply the backstay. The more you apply the backstay the more twist you get in the main. As you head off the wind you would ease the backstay to power the main back up.
Larry M
Cd 33 dolce

Ladies & Gentelmen,
Since I'm getting into some recreational racing with my CD26, and doing well on occasion, Ive become curious about Back stay adjusters.
Could someone explain the use of the adjuster as to when you tighten and loosen it, and the theory behind it.

Thanks In advance for your time!

Dennis Truett
CD26D SummerWind

lmace@gt.com

[Stan W.]

As the others stated, adjustable backstays can do two things: (1) adjust mast bend; and (2) adjust forestay tension. The first generally applies only to boats with fractional rigs. This does NOT include larger Cape Dorys, which have a mast-head rig. The second applies to boats with either rig, including larger Cape Dorys. I have been thinking about an adjustable backstay too, but more urgent needs keep it low on my list of priorities for now.



smwheatley@capecod.net

[Robin Meigel]

I added a back stay adjuster to my Cape Dory 27 and it has measurably improved my ability to point upwind with the roller furling headsail rig. Now, please don't ask how many dollars per degree of improvement!

[Pirate Captain s/v Hanale]

Captain Truett,

No Sir, no backstay adjuster on a mastheaded rig. It was designed to be "in column", ie. straight up and down, fore and aft, port to starboard. If you really want to spend some money, buy a Loos guage and adjust the tension of your stays and shrouds to what they should be. I did it this year, and you have probably read/heard about the results. The rig on Hanalei is tighter and more balanced than it has ever been. I am a convert....and I remain Sir......your most HUMBLE servant.....

Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30C "#1"

[I hate to disagree..but..]

Captain Stump;
I hate to disagree but masthead/frac rig has nothing to do with backstay adjusters. Many masthead racing boats have backstay adjusters on them. Primarily the factor is the total package of rig/spar design. I would agree that CD spars aren't really designed for fore/aft bend, however.

Fair Winds.



carrds@us.ibm.com