Debbie Weeks, Patience, #362

I only had two head sails up once heading downwind to Hawai'i... the swell was too big and it didn't work out because the whisker pole kept getting caught in the drink. While both sails were up, the hanks seemed to keep to themselves. My stays are pretty tight, so the amplitude of the vibration is minimal. I have a laminated oak beam under the mast step, so no problems with the snug stays.

Bob, #589

I had a san juan 24 with a foil on the headstay for quick sail changes. a double stay would also be an extra bit of insurance against forestay failure, i suppose.

Jim Hart, #94,

I made (mine.) ... it's really not that big of a deal. Any high school machine shop kid could do it for you and the class instructors are usually looking for these kinds of items for their kids to get involved in meaningful projects. I'd suggest contacting a machine shop instructor at a local high school and taking some pictures to him with some measurements.

There are several reasons for double forestays. First as Debbie indicated you can run two jibs wing & wing for more downwind power. But the big plus is that it allows you to change head sails without loosing any power, going to bigger or smaller sails. You don't have a tendancy to loose your genoa over the side when it is protected by the working sail you just ran up inside of it. A Triton will kick butt down wind with two 150's in the air and they are a lot easier to handle than a spinnaker....plus you don't have to drop the spinnaker before running up the genoa, it's already there.

Thes pictures are of my double headstay hardware. The mast end is approximately the same.(no turnbuckles)