MacGregorSailors.com

Bill Earnhardt - re: baby stays -

Just thinking out loud here-
Are your stay adjusters equally adjusted (pinned)? The manual calls for the wires to be

...free of slack, but not really tight. 1/2" of play is about right.

Aside from shortening the baby stays by cutting the wire & recrimping, the working length of the baby stay can be fractionally shortened by opening the single hole section away from the double hole section and inserting a clevis pin in any of the uppermost holes of the double hole section. Note that I've not done this myself, and do not know how the adjuster would react while under load like this (just an idea to consider).

Edit: To clarify - the further down the offsetting pin is placed, the shorter the working length of the stay becomes.

I have a new M gin pole that came with my X and never been used.
Much quicker to have girlfriend stand on Companionway hatch and lift mast while I pull on roller furling.Only problem with that is I can't get the tension tight enough on the stays as it would be to hard to pin the headstay. I may have to rig back up the jib halyard and run it to other hole in chain plate and back to winch to get the correct tension, or will start useing the Gin Pole.
The leeward shrouds are to slack when beating to windward in winds over 12 knots.When I change the rigging to turnbuckles I can adjust stays while underway as I have done in my previous sailboats without bulkheads.I don't think I can get that tension I need with adjustable backstay.
Dave

DaveB wrote:Much quicker to have girlfriend stand on Companionway hatch and lift mast while I pull on roller furling.

She sounds like a keeper. Maybe you just need another girlfriend equally strong to help you pin the mast.

DaveB-

When walking up my mast solo, a simple trick I use to hold the mast up & pin the RF with ease is:

While mast is horizontal, tie a large enough loop in a free line around the mast beneath the spreaders. Attach a halyard to the loop & tighten / cleat so loop is taut at the spreader hieght. When mast is vertical, attach other end of the free line to a cleat. Use a truckers hitch to tension the mast forward...enough so to pin the forestay / RF with ease. Release the cleated line & halyard, pull down loop end from spreaders.

You guys really should get a mast raising system - it is cheap and there is no risk of injury or accident. It is a pain to store but is one of the really useful additions. You can pause at about any point clear a tangled shroud, replace a burnt out light, pop the spreaders back in place, etc.