vee berth support cable/rod for ?

[Silver_Surfer]

hello, i've seen this cable/rod used for either a baltic 43 or 42 and can't seem to find that picture but found this for a baltic 51. i've seen them used/installed in other sailboats but wondered what they backed up and for what purpose? is it the bow track to attach a inner forestay and fly a sail in cutter form? or what?
or is it for a specific hard point/pad eye?
thanks

[psk125]

Rods or stays like that are usually for padeyes - point-loading - that might be for inner forestays to fly jibs on or baby stays in order to bend the mast. A foredeck track might be for cars to handle a spinnaker staysail, which you might want to move around depending upon the angle of the wind, or for the pole foreguy, though that probably wouldn't get moved much. A track would probably not be strong enough to serve as a forestay base, even temporarily. For the other uses, the track probably spreads the load out enough that it wouldn't need the added reinforcement below, though you would want an engineer or naval architect to crunch the numbers beforehand to make sure. It would be a shame to install a track like that without the reinforcement and then find the forward hatch wouldn't seal shut any more because the deck had been deformed.

[Gary Mc]

I have one just like that but on a different boat. It is the support for where the baby stay attaches although I do not use it.
Left it in because it also holds the deck down securely in case of unusual stresses, such as a broach, which of course I never do!

[GordMay]

IMO, psk & Gary have it right.

[Silver_Surfer]

thanks i have pad eyes on the bow are just in front of the track, which i used for the downhaul/foreguy thru blocks when i flew the spinnaker. the boat is a new to me as i just sailed it down to ensenada for a refit from Los angeles. getting together ideas for new hardware and that track came up. on another baltic 43 the owner chose not to reinstall after new teak decks. doing new decks and had same question arose, i chose to keep her stock from the factory look and will reinstall track. boat has a baby stay too, and the load is just on the bolts of the short track. Baltic does reinforce the area around load bearing attachments and thru hulls, etc.
thanks for the input.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tlH...ew?usp=sharing

[pitlaw]

So, I have a fore deck track. It has an adjustable car and a small 1/4” stay which is attached to the mast. I do have a separate staysail stay. But have never used the track or it’s stay. What are the uses? Is it another support to be used when flying the staysail?

[Ken Fry]

Originally Posted by pitlaw

So, I have a fore deck track. It has an adjustable car and a small 1/4” stay which is attached to the mast. I do have a separate staysail stay. But have never used the track or it’s stay. What are the uses? Is it another support to be used when flying the staysail?Attachment 229244

I can't tell from the pic, but if the stay hits the mast not too far from where the boom does, then it is probably a baby stay, used to bend that mast forward to flatten the sail. The car may have originally been pulled forward by a block and tackle, or they may have relied on the angle of the track to provide enough purchase (in other words, you move the car forward by 5" to move the stay down by 1/4" or some such.)

Either that, or it's a landlubber trap, commonly used to trip people who really should not be sailing.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Silver_Surfer

hello, i've seen this cable/rod used for either a baltic 43 or 42 and can't seem to find that picture but found this for a baltic 51. i've seen them used/installed in other sailboats but wondered what they backed up and for what purpose? is it the bow track to attach a inner forestay and fly a sail in cutter form? or what?
or is it for a specific hard point/pad eye?
thanks

I am not sure about your boat, but several Baltic models utilize baby stays to stabilize the mast in a fore and aft direction (running backstays keep the mast from bending forward in the middle and the baby stay prevents the mast from inverting, bending backward in the middle). This arrangement is important if you have in-line shrouds. It helps prevent "pumping" of the mast. The baby stay is removeable mostly so that it does not interfere with the spinnaker pole.

The cable you see transfers the baby-stay load to the hull.

If you have inline shrouds be sure that your project includes retaining the babystay and the support to the hull below.

[Adelie]

Babystay from the lower spreaders instead of forward lowers on both sides.
Babystays are preferred by racers as spinnaker pole can be brought further aft when running dead down wind. Outside of racing I think baby stay vs forward lowers is an aesthetic preference, though I prefer forward lowers as it leaves the foredeck more open for other things.
The load from the baby stay would rip up the deck if it wasn't counteracted by a beam, bulkhead or in this case another stay down to the hull which probably same some sort of floor to spread the load into the hull.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Adelie

Babystay from the lower spreaders instead of forward lowers on both sides.
Babystays are preferred by racers as spinnaker pole can be brought further aft when running dead down wind. Outside of racing I think baby stay vs forward lowers is an aesthetic preference, though I prefer forward lowers as it leaves the foredeck more open for other things.
The load from the baby stay would rip up the deck if it wasn't counteracted by a beam, bulkhead or in this case another stay down to the hull which probably same some sort of floor to spread the load into the hull.

Boats with in-line shrouds (no fore and aft lower shrouds) need baby stays and running backstays. It really has little to do with the spinnaker pole except that the baby stay interferes with dip pole jibes on boats with a symmetrical spinnaker, which is why it is usually removable.

This type of rig allows a great deal of mast bend control. With in-line shrouds adjustable backstay, runners and baby stay you can have a straight mast or a mast with various degrees of bend. This dramatically changes the shape of the mainsail and has some effect on the forestay and headsail shape.

Fore and aft lowers reduces the amount of mast bend you can achieve.

Yes, racers in the old days were really into this type of rigs and sail control. Modern boat have mostly forgone this.