Backstay gland upgrade

Most stock Shields backstays have a wire pennant that comes through the back deck via a deck casting. Inside, the wire makes a 120 degree turn and rides over a solid piece of steel. This area has a lot of friction and chafe. This is a problem are because:

1)the friction makes it hard to adjust the backstay. Even with 8:1 purchase it can be hard for the main trimmer to adjust this as much as they should. A lower friction setup makes it work easier and faster, and therefore the crew is more likely to use it!
2)the chafe means that the backstay pennant wires wear out much faster than they should, which can potentially bring the rig down. Ask Mike S about the time Redfeather lost the backstay (but not the rig) in 25kts: not fun!

According to the class measurer, replacing this casting with an exit block is verboten, but the stock casting can be used with a sheave in it. I sent ours out to Bam at Oyster Bay, who is a wholesale vendor of mine. He did a really nice job of machining a groove in the casting, and putting in a Harken 307 sheave.

In this photo you can see the underside of the casting, and the new sheave.

We've got some pretty big projects in the works over the next 2 months, which will all be featured here, so check back soon!