Standing Rigging Question

[SailingPI]

I just started to take up sailing, a fun adventure so far. I have a question about my standing rigging. My little sailboat, 18' Renken, has a forestay and two shrouds but it does not have a backstay. The shroud connections at the boat are slightly back. What I have noticed in the couple times that I have gone out sailing is my forestay will become loose when I have the sails up. Should I be concerned, and maybe add a backstay, or is this just something that happens when you have a small sailboat?

Thank you for your help in advance and sorry if I butchered any sailing terms.

[thomm225]

If your forestay becomes loose with the sails up, you don't need a backstay.

Also, none of the 4 beach cats that I raced had backstays, and one of those also had a spinnaker.

They had a lot more sail area than your boat also.

You could tighten the shrouds more or the forestay if the looseness bothers you though.

[SailingPI]

Thank you for the information, I just wanted to check and make sure I was not missing something that I should be adding. Now I can add some creature comforts like a depth finders and cushions.