Guys,

You will 100% be slower if you make your stays and forestay with normal SK75/78/90 rope. The loss of power with the ropes is going to make a difference that you will notice.

If you dont believe me, go and try it with some straight line testing against a std boat.

Hi Macca,

what is the issue with normal SK90 rope ? The braiding?

pretty much correct. The braiding essentially puts the fibres off the direct line of load and as such they are never able to be properly aligned with the load, this also has a further effect due to the bundling of the fibres into 12 strands. there is always some space for these bundles to flex and compress which makes it more elastic.

Unidirectional fibre stays are the only way to go.

This subject has come up at Sailing Anarchy, with some of the same folks and some new thoughts on the subject.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=144443

Just read through it. Seems like the consencus is that fibre rigging will be the future. Just need some development, but no prob. to go bleeding edge on a hobby basis if we want to.
I liked the carbon stays! But how would they react to being bent around the mast when the mast rotates (I assume other fibers being used there). With carbon tow it should be possible to DIY carbon stays but the handling would indeed be a challenge.




Thanks for the link.