john m
Well-Known Member
the last owner of my beneteau 35s5 had new rigging made but unfortunatley the backstay is about 9inches to short he had this joined with a piece of rope (i would never trust it) would it be ok to use a large bottle screw
rigging advice needed
- Thread starter john m
- Start date
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Make sure the rope is Spectra or Dyneema and there won't be a problem. Race boats use it, and many cruisy boats have rope tackles to use as backstay adjusters.
This is about the best pic that Google Image can find
This is about the best pic that Google Image can find
BAtoo
Well-Known Member
On your fractional rigged boat the backstay is there to alter mast shape so needs to be rigged to some sort of purchase system & as Twister Ken says many boats use a dyneema system of pulleys/tackles/cascades to do so. The common Bene adjuster is a form of "powerbox" with an 10:1 purchase inside an ally tube; this sometimes works directly off the backstay if its single or through a simple cascade (doudling the power) if its a split backstay. My 310 has a split one & my 38s5 had a single backstay.
Currently my "powerbox" is tied onto the split backstay by some dyneema & it will be fine now I have free'd up all of the blocks....
Currently my "powerbox" is tied onto the split backstay by some dyneema & it will be fine now I have free'd up all of the blocks....
john m
Well-Known Member
the back stay will be riged to a twin rope purchase system but i need make up about 10inches to conect both and was planig on using a bottle swcrew for this conection
BAtoo
Well-Known Member
Should be fine as long as you can still adjust the tension
john m
Well-Known Member
thanks
William_H
Well-Known Member
Certainly if you have to buy a bottle screw then don't. The backstay on a fractional rig system takes very little load unless you crank it on and usually the rig is quite safe even if it lets go. Hence the bit of string that is in there. If you can't extend the adjustment system then shackle in another piece of wire with thimble and eye each end. I have something very similar which makes an excellent point to tie on a burgee. ie across the added piece of wire. good luck olewill
martindinham
Member
I'd second the suggestion that rope is fine assuming its a Dyneema or similar. I've a 32s5 with the standard Beneteau all wire to metal blocks backstay arrangement and its rubbish - one of the jobs on my "to do" list is to replace with a decent block / dyneema set up, if the 35s5 has the same arrnagement I can understand why the previous owner changed it.
lw395
Well-Known Member
Is that fractional rig?
What size is the backstay?
One option would be to get a rigger to make up a strop to extend. Go one size up on the wire and be done with it.
The load on the backstay varies hugely between rigs. If you have very swept spreaders, it can be almost only there to bend the mast. On other rigs it can take the full drive of the rig downwind. Stretch of the rope is not such an issue over such a short length, I would be more concerned about integrity of the splices, UV degradation, breaking strain.
I have heard of smaller boats having a rope bit in a backstay so that it can be cut after a collision, to stop the rig being pulled down. I don't endorse this myself.
HTH.
What size is the backstay?
One option would be to get a rigger to make up a strop to extend. Go one size up on the wire and be done with it.
The load on the backstay varies hugely between rigs. If you have very swept spreaders, it can be almost only there to bend the mast. On other rigs it can take the full drive of the rig downwind. Stretch of the rope is not such an issue over such a short length, I would be more concerned about integrity of the splices, UV degradation, breaking strain.
I have heard of smaller boats having a rope bit in a backstay so that it can be cut after a collision, to stop the rig being pulled down. I don't endorse this myself.
HTH.
