Calypso has hydraulic adjusters on both the back and baby stay. Using significant pressure on both, the “hell for stout” mast barely shows any bend. With the baby stay disconnected the mast does pump alarmingly in short, steep seas.
The main utility of Calypso’s baby stay is to prevent mast pumping. Calypso’s rig was modified years ago eliminating the aft lower shrouds which allows the boom to be eased further forward for DDW sailing. Per my conversations with rigger extraordinaire Brion Toss (RIP) the aft lowers often carry much of the mid-mast support load. If your rig includes aft lowers I suspect baby stay use could be reduced in most of the gentle conditions common in a Salish summer. In sporty conditions, especially racing double handed, I would rig the spinnaker pole to reduce headsail tangles at the baby stay. This tactic was especially useful in heavy #1 sailing conditions. The baby stay can also be useful in reducing mast pump/vibration at anchor. I often played with various tension combos between the back and baby stay to calm a twitchy mast. Martin DeYoung Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Seattle/Port Townsend’s yard On Sep 2, 2021, at 9:15 AM, Peter McMinn via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: Great thoughts all. I use our hydraulic backstay to much greater effect. I’m going to tie the baby back and watch the results on the main, which likely was cut for that lower fwd tension. We sail in the Salish, so heavy air is relatively shortlived, but some recent passages with blasts to 30 make me want to keep the stay ready to use. A telling observation is that the car on the Schaefer track has suffered some serious torque (in SF Bay) and is only about 50% functional. Thank you! Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks - Stu
Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks - Stu
