When Temporarily Disconnecting Shrouds . . .

[off-the-grid]

for whatever reason, what is the preferred method for reducing strain/fatigue on the rig?

Is just disconnecting one at a time ok?

Or should you bring a spare halyard over to that side to pick up the tension?

Or should you disconnect them in opposing pairs?
AKA: starboard upper and port upper together, starboard lower and port lower together, etc?

Obviously that last one isn't an option with back stays, so is it safe to disconnect just one of two back stays just temporarily, or should a halyard be brought back to add some support?

[boatman61]

I just loosen off the turnbuckles a few turns... mind I've never gone in for the 'Iron Rod' stays in the way that many feel is needed for rig security...
If 'removing' the forestay or backstay however, I do use the Main or Genny halyard to take some strain for the duration..

[roverhi]

You can remove/loosen the uppers on most masts without a problem in normal conditons. Have done it tons of time. If you need to go up the mast, using a halyard to replace the stay is a good idea. I've gone to the top of my mast a number of times with no head or backstay but with a halyard replacing the stay. Haven't tried doing it without the halyard but suspect it would be no big dea. The StaSet X halyard wasn't super tight and had a bit of the inevitable stretch. Didn't see any sign that the mast was wiggling at all with me at the mast head.

If you have a super bendy fractional rig, definitely would want to triangulate the head stay with a spinnaker halyard. Those wet noodle masts are scary laying on saw horses on the ground. Can't imagine what it's like up at the masthead.

[zeehag]

as i replace my aftmost chainplates. i plan on using halyards to stabilize the masts some---and i plan on doing them one at a time. may take longer but i think my boat will be better for it.. good luck!

[off-the-grid]

Originally Posted by zeehag

as i replace my aftmost chainplates. i plan on using halyards to stabilize the masts some---and i plan on doing them one at a time. may take longer but i think my boat will be better for it.. good luck!

Yeah, I guess that's the best. Not doing anything major or time consuming, so whatever is best for the rig.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by grunzster

Yeah, I guess that's the best. Not doing anything major or time consuming, so whatever is best for the rig.

boat will let ye know when ye mess up... trust her.

[silverp40]

This might be a bit late but if you are disconnecting lateral stays, look up the mainsail track and see if there is a lot of distortion on the opposite side from whence the stay was disconnected. You can always relieve a bit of the strain if you loosen up the opposing turnbuckle till you reconnect the original stay. If there is no real "pull" to one side, the rig is OK.

For fore and aft disconnections, you can temporarily use a halyard in the front as mentioned by others. Disconnecting one of the backstays will load up the other side a bit more. You can use the main halyard or topping lift to take up a bit of the load temporarily.

Cheers

[daddle]

If the mast is keel stepped you can remove all shrouds and stays.

If it's deck stepped you need only enough support, like 3, to keep it from toppling in any direction. E.g. four lower shrouds.

I'd ease the backstay and runners before playing with shrouds as extreme backstay or forestay loading could over bend the mast when a shroud is loosened. Like someone said above, keep an eye on things as you loosen stuff. 4 diameters of bend is a god safe limit for a non-sailing situation.