4 - The Forestay
Arguably one of the biggest advantages of this sort of system is the fact that the forestay is enclosed by the luff spar (as discussed previously). This removes a significant potential cause of frustration, namely the tendency for the foresail to become wrapped around the (separate) forestay when furling the sail. A number of well-publicised techniques have been developed down the years to minimise this risk, but surely none is more effective than completely enclosing the stay.
Seasoned cruisers will already have spotted the possible flaw in this argument, namely the absence of a separate forestay should anything unfortunate happen to the drum, the enclosed stay, swivel, shackle or halyard. However I should mention at this point that the wire used for the forestay is 4mm in diameter rather than the 3mm kind normally used as Wayfarer genoa luff wire, so the cross-sectional area is almost double that of the usual stay wire. This, and the high specification of the drum and swivel, significantly reduces the chance of failure, so it could be argued that there is no need for a separate stay.
The halyard, however, is more vulnerable, and not just to the possibility of breakage; there is also the potential for it to be released accidentally or absent-mindedly, so a 'safety wire' between (say) the forestay attachment point on the mast and the oval ring on the top swivel has been proposed as a sensible precaution. If the spinnaker halyard is not required while sailing this could take the place of the safety wire, and has the advantage that it can be adjusted or even released without taking the mast down. Better still a dedicated halyard would have the same advantages and would leave the spinnaker halyard free for the spinnaker, whilst afloat, and for hoisting a genoa UV cover when not afloat. Some may feel that there is no need to worry about a backup of any sort; after all we rely on just one shroud on each side of the boat, with no backup. This is the sort of decision that has to be made individually by each owner, taking into account the sort of sailing undertaken and the possible consequences of gear failure.
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