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Joe,
<BR> Well, I do not race, so a removable stay ought not
be a problem. A future owner could remove it.
<BR> Running backstays used to be common, years ago,
but not today. They were set up, port & starboard, from wherever attached
to the mast to hard points on the deck, aft, as I say, port & starboard.
At the deck were devices kind of like latches that could be loosened or
tightened, maybe took up six inches or a foot or so of slack. On port tack
the crew would take up the port backstay and loosen the starboard one &
vice versa.
<BR> They are nicely described & shown in Eric Hiscock's
<I>Cruising Under Sail,</I> p. 124, 125 and a photo on p. 128.
<BR> Incidentally, Hiscock's books, including <I>Around
the World in Wanderer III, Voyaging Under Sail, Wandering Under Sail, Let's
Go Cruising </I> and <I> Southwest Irish Harbours and Bays</I>
are among the books every cruising sailor ought to have. They are pre-GPS,
c. 1950-59, but are terrific small boat cruising books.
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- Gordon White</HTML>