Solent Stay

[benz]

Hi Joel,

Good drawings--very clear, and good ideas, even if the details are iffy. My staysail sets in a similar fashion, without any cascading tension, though. The Vectran halyard goes from the head of the sail, through a block aloft, then back down through the sail hanks to a turning block shackled to the stem. There is a becket on the block to which the tack is attached, so the sail is hoisted by pulling upwards on the halyard with feet planted firmly on deck. When tensioned (either by hand or with a turn around the rope drum of the windlass for extra tightness), the halyard becomes a sort of forestay for the sail. Thus the forestay's only use is to hold up the mast, and when dousing the staysail, I unshackle the turning block and the whole circus stows out of the way by the mast, leaving the foredeck free for anchoring or whatever. I find it a lovely system, very quick to set up and stow, without having to hank on and off, since the hanks stay permanently on.