What type of bail for staysail boom?

[OrangeCrush]

Hello,
I previously had my staysail sheet running through a block attached to the aluminum casting on the aft end of the staysail boom. Having broken it and gotten a new one, I don’t think it’s up to the task and is likely to break again. What kind of bail would you recommend? Something that goes in the track and is screwed in place or a larger u-shaped bail bolted through the whole staysail boom? Thanks!

[Cheechako]

I think either is fine on a staysail IF you have room under boom for it all without hitting things on deck when tacking.

[OrangeCrush]

Well the downhaul is already well attached with a bail on the bottom track (if that’s still called a bail). The one I need to replace would go on the top track OR bolted through with the round part on the top for the block that directs the sheet toward the clew of the staysail.

Here’s another pic with boat dog for scale.

[Cheechako]

Oh right! You need that outhaul tension. Boy, I dont know, I'd want to use that sheave inside the casting. It's just an elegant solution for that. But I do see that the casting is surprisingly thin.
I can't tell, does the pin for the sheave go completely through the casting? I guess it must. Where did it break? one of the little separators? Is it possible to put some nylon bushings between each of those separators supporting them from side load?

[OrangeCrush]

This is the second one that broke actually. The first one broke from a shock load when a cleat broke (long story) but the second one may have just broken under normalish heavy weather staysail use. It definitely seems week. I had a pin through it then a shackle onto the pin which held a separate large block.

It does seem nice to run it through the boom but my staysail sheet is too big a line for those sheaves anyway, so I always had it running outside the boom. Trimming the staysail in a lot of wind puts a ton of strain on and I’m quite sure the casting will just keep breaking. At $30 a pop it’s one of the more reasonably priced parts on my boat but still...

[Cheechako]

Well, that looks more stout than I expected. Weird it would break. It must be side loads. Strange that the two dividers are just slotted rather than a hole aligning to the pin. Maybe the bushings would support it, putting any side load on the outside of the casting..

[psk125]

It sounds like the casting doesn’t like the side loads and possible banging it gets when you tack. A bail bolted through the spar would probably be better for absorbing the shock loads.

[zboss]

Our staysail boom topping lift is attached like yours to the boom end and I think that installing a bail on it would be a good idea.