On a sailing vessel, a forestay, sometimes just called a stay, is a piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling backwards. It is attached either at the very top of the mast, or in fractional rigs between about 1/8 and 1/4 from the top of the mast. The other end of the forestay is attached to the bow of the boat.[1][2]
Often a sail is attached to the forestay. This sail may be a jib or a genoa.[3][4] In a cutter rig, the jib or jibs are flown from stays in front of the forestay, perhaps going from the masthead to a bowsprit. The sail on the forestay is then referred to as the staysail or stays'l.
A forestay might be made from stainless steel wire on a modern yacht, solid stainless steel rod, carbon rod, or ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (such as Spectra or Dyneema) on a high-performance racing boat, and galvanised wire or natural fibers on an older cutter or square-rigged ship.[5]
^Richard O. Claus; William B. Spillman; U.S. Air Force Wright Laboratory (2000). Smart Structures and Materials: Sensory phenomena and measurement instrumentation for smart structures and materials. Intelligent Materials Forum (Mitō Kagaku Gijutsu Kyōkai): SPIE. ISBN 9780819436047.
^Bo Streiffert; Dag Pike; Loris Goring (September 1994). Modern Boat Maintenance: The Complete Fiberglass Boat Manual. Sheridan House. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-0-924486-71-5.
^Jeremy Evans (March 2009). The Sailing Bible: The Complete Guide for All Sailors from Novice to Experienced Skipper. A&C Black. pp. 185–. ISBN 978-1-4081-0249-7.
^Bob Bond (1992). The Handbook of Sailing. Knopf. pp. 51–. ISBN 978-0-679-74063-6.
^Roger Barnes (2 January 2014). The Dinghy Cruising Companion: Tales and Advice from Sailing a Small Open Boat. A&C Black. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-1-4081-8027-3.
On a sailing vessel, a forestay, sometimes just called a stay, is a piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling backwards. It is attached...
the top of the mast. The forestay is a wire that secures the mast to the front of the boat. With a fractional rig, the forestay is attached between about...
had sailed all season without pulling the spinnaker pole back from the forestay and that all the systems could be simplified by eliminating the pole and...
from the mast to either its transom or rear quarter, counteracting the forestay and jib. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on...
masthead-rigged sloop, the forestay (on which the headsail is carried) attaches at the top of the mast. On a fractional-rigged sloop, the forestay attaches to the...
allow for a jib and staysail to be attached to the head stay and inner forestay, respectively. Once a common racing configuration, today it gives versatility...
from each lateral corner of the stern to the mast at the level where the forestay begins in the fractional rig. Because they are attached low on the mast...
fore-and-aft rigged vessels have the following types of standing rigging: a forestay, a backstay, and upper and lower shrouds (side stays). Less common rigging...
typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays. The bowsprit’s purpose is to create anchor points for the sails that...
The foremost one sets on the topmast forestay and is generally called the jib topsail, a second on the main forestay is called the jib, and the innermost...
fore-and-aft rigged vessels have the following types of standing rigging: a forestay, a backstay, and upper and lower shrouds (side stays). Less common rigging...
but is asymmetric like a genoa, but the gennaker is not attached to the forestay like a jib or genoa. The gennaker is rigged like a spinnaker but the tack...
changing tack due to the difficulty in passing the big sail between the two forestays. Here the staysail can help bring the bow through the wind more effectively...
is to counteract the upward tension on the bowsprit from the jibs and forestay. A bobstay may run directly from the stem to the bowsprit, or it may run...
a sheet and pulling in the other one, passing the sail in front of the forestay. An asymmetric spinnaker is particularly effective on fast planing dinghies...
A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups:...
In some phrases introducing a book he wrote later in life meant to help forestay a wandering kind of criticism of the work based on the controversies due...
Global Information
2 – staysail