Maxingout
20th October 2008, 01:41 AM
Everyone cruises in their own comfort zone, and they decide how hard they are going to push their yacht offshore.
I was introduced to the tradewinds in the Caribbean in the Navy when I sailed out of Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico. Those five years in the Caribbean exposed me to trade winds that could blow at 20-25 knots for weeks at a time, especially when the "Christmas winds" were blowing.
I was sailing a Westsail 32 with a cutter rig at the time, and I was accustomed to using running backstays when beating to windward under staysail and reefed main. The running backstays kept the mast in column, and they provided an additional level of security in the event of a rigging failure.
When I purchased my Privilege 39 catamaran, Exit Only, I knew that I would be sailiing her downwind around the world in the trade winds for the majority of the trip. I looked at the capshrouds on board Exit Only, and I remembered the reinforced trade winds that I had experienced in the Caribbean so many years before. I knew that if I ever lost a capshroud on Exit Only, the rig would likely go overboard. I also knew that Exit Only was going to be a downwind sailing machine - we were heading out on a downwind adventure around the world.
I called up my rigging friend, Andy Wall, and I asked him to make some running backstays and install them on Exit Only. He made them up and ran them from just below the mast head to my capshroud chainplates which had points of attachment for the running backstays.
I then set off around the world, watching my capshrouds like a hawk (12 mm wire) as we sailed downwind across the Pacific. I took up the strain on the windward running back stay to reduce the shock loading on the windward capshroud.
The running backstays did their thing all the way around the world.
At the completion of our circumnavigation, we had replaced all the rigging on board Exit Only except for the two capshrouds. They survived intact.
It seems interesting that the only pieces of rigging that survived the entire trip was the capshrouds that had been backed up by the running backstays.
I wonder if I had sailed without the runners, would the capshrouds have gone the way of all the other rigging on board, or would the capshrouds have survived.
I don't know if my running backstays kept my capshrouds alive, but I do know that they made me feel better as I sailed downwind in the trades. Lots of times the accentuated trades blew at 25-30 knots, and I was always glad that the running backstays were there.
Running backstays add weight to the yacht, and if you aren't sailing downwind for 30,000 miles, perhaps you would be better without them.
What do you think? Is it worth the weight and expense to add running backstays if you are going to sail downwind in the trade winds for 33,000 miles?
I was introduced to the tradewinds in the Caribbean in the Navy when I sailed out of Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico. Those five years in the Caribbean exposed me to trade winds that could blow at 20-25 knots for weeks at a time, especially when the "Christmas winds" were blowing.
I was sailing a Westsail 32 with a cutter rig at the time, and I was accustomed to using running backstays when beating to windward under staysail and reefed main. The running backstays kept the mast in column, and they provided an additional level of security in the event of a rigging failure.
When I purchased my Privilege 39 catamaran, Exit Only, I knew that I would be sailiing her downwind around the world in the trade winds for the majority of the trip. I looked at the capshrouds on board Exit Only, and I remembered the reinforced trade winds that I had experienced in the Caribbean so many years before. I knew that if I ever lost a capshroud on Exit Only, the rig would likely go overboard. I also knew that Exit Only was going to be a downwind sailing machine - we were heading out on a downwind adventure around the world.
I called up my rigging friend, Andy Wall, and I asked him to make some running backstays and install them on Exit Only. He made them up and ran them from just below the mast head to my capshroud chainplates which had points of attachment for the running backstays.
I then set off around the world, watching my capshrouds like a hawk (12 mm wire) as we sailed downwind across the Pacific. I took up the strain on the windward running back stay to reduce the shock loading on the windward capshroud.
The running backstays did their thing all the way around the world.
At the completion of our circumnavigation, we had replaced all the rigging on board Exit Only except for the two capshrouds. They survived intact.
It seems interesting that the only pieces of rigging that survived the entire trip was the capshrouds that had been backed up by the running backstays.
I wonder if I had sailed without the runners, would the capshrouds have gone the way of all the other rigging on board, or would the capshrouds have survived.
I don't know if my running backstays kept my capshrouds alive, but I do know that they made me feel better as I sailed downwind in the trades. Lots of times the accentuated trades blew at 25-30 knots, and I was always glad that the running backstays were there.
Running backstays add weight to the yacht, and if you aren't sailing downwind for 30,000 miles, perhaps you would be better without them.
What do you think? Is it worth the weight and expense to add running backstays if you are going to sail downwind in the trade winds for 33,000 miles?