Do you leave the "baby stays" on when sailing ?

[Boblee]

Of the twenty odd Macs I have seen, none leave the stays or raising gear on but it makes sense to leave the stays on and might even play with the raising kit, although I don't like bits hanging around where I can get hooked on.
Cannot believe I never thought to leave them there.

[ALX357]

I would think the attached raising pole would be in the way during the mast-move to and from the pulpit, but then I haven't really tried it.

I know that it bears against the FG with alot of leverage when it is attached to the step and allowed to rest on the deck. I tightly whip-wrapped the fork end of mine with small line to be a buffer against that metal to FG contact.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

To remove my X baby stays would entail removing the lock bolts at each side on the deck brackets, then sliding them out from under the deck strap. Then unfastening the large bolt that holds the two tangs to the mast. For me this is all to much trouble, no doubt at some point parts would get lost or dropped almost surely when we are raising the mast while floating in the water.

The deck end can be done relatively quickly, but then they are dangling and have to be bungee'd to the mast. I feel they are more in the way loose there than they are in place. In 7 years neither I nor anyone in my family of 5 has ever tripped on them. They also are a great extra handhold.

The mast raising pole folded up flat against the mast has no effect on tacking my genoa. This is a very common place to store spinnaker poles on many boats. The M pole with the winch on it would be a different matter. The X pole has nothing the sail can snag on.

Trailering the raising pole is bungee'd up under the mast as in the picture I posted. The block and tackle is in place connected to the deck, and the line is run back to the stbrd winch. Everything is stored in exactly the place it was when the mast was lowered. I just release the pole and drop it to the deck.

It does not put any pressure on the deck, but my step has been modified. The previous owner of the boat had mounted the GPS antenna flush to the deck just ahead of the mast step. I found this was in the way of the pole when the mast was raised. I had my welder neighbor add some ears to the step that raise the mast raising pole mounting bolt location about 2". This let's my pole drop to the deck without bearing on the GPS antenna or any fiberglass parts. It also let's it go completely vertical alongside the mast when stored.

With the pole dropped to the deck nothing is in the way of rolling the mast back to the step and putting in the bolt. The halyard, still cleated and left at the exact length needed when the mast was lowered, is then clipped to the raised pole end. The mast is now ready to go up.

Once up, the block and tackle is released from the deck, the pole is folded up against the mast, and they both get bungee'd in place with a single bungee just below the gooseneck. This keeps everything out of the way completely yet ready to go when the mast comes back down.

On rare occasions it also means everything is quickly ready if I need to dip the mast to get under a bridge or fix some problem that occurs while out on the water. This has happened a couple times. I'd rather have the gear on deck and ready. Space is too precious below to give some up to the long pole, line, and cables. Stored in the truck they are not available if needed out on the water.

[Chip Hindes]

Ditto everything Duane said.

Wow. This could be a first.

Only trouble I've ever had is that on two occasions the bolts holing the stays in their straps on the deck worked their way loose after 1500 miles of trailering. First time the stay actually came loose in the middle of raising. Bent the raising pole when the mast went sideways but no other damage.

I then instituted a regular check of these after a long trailer. The second one I noticed before raising and actually found the loose bolt on the upper deck trapped against the splash rail.

Now they're permanently held in place with Loctite 422. The bolts not the straps.

[jasper]

I keep my boat at the marina in the water all summer. My boat is accessed via a gangway at the bow so I need a clear passage to get to the mooring lines when I get close enough to take them aboard using a boat hook. I need to move quickly in windy conditions and the baby-stays are are just in the way. After a couple trip ups and near falls, I decided to remove them until time to de-rig.

[Zoran]

I tried it both ways and if they are on there is an extra thing to grab but also an extra line to trip over. At the end I realized that for me it is better if the baby stays are off. I rig my boat three times a year and time is not an issue, but I like clear deck. My lines are all in cockpit running at the edges so the center of the deck is for walking and that is where baby stays are obstacle. They add no strength to your rigging, if they do than something is wrong. My reccomendation, try it both ways and do what works for you.

Zoran

[March]

I keep them on while sailing. They don't bother me at all and offer, as posted above, an extra line to grip. They don't seem to take any load off the mast or anything; They prevent the mast from swinging sideways when you lift it (I was able to see the results of not having them in place when raising the mast, but I realized my mistake in time, thank God). When trailering--down below, with the stays attached to the bolt. The raising pole is used only to raise the mast--then down below it goes, between the matress and the wall in the back. The line always gets tangled, but what the heck

But like the man said, take your pick. I kind of like their psychological effect. Have a picture of the boat with a friend on board taken from a distance which made me realize how high that mast really is

[Moe]

Because we were trailering, we did leave the baby stays connected, but put the mast-raising kit below. Attaching and detaching it did add a good bit of time to set-up/take-down, so I'm sure Duane's technique of fastening it to the mast saves considerable time.

[Night Sailor]

Storing the pole and stays as Duane suggests would be handy when cruising the inland rivers and bayous, canals and waterways of many scenic areas where trestles or bridges are only open at certain times or on certain das of the week.