Bav30C. Backstay mountings.

[Bavnav]

Hi.
A well intentioned pontoon neighbour has twice raised his concerns regarding the backstay fixings on my Bav30C. He is concerned that the bow shackles will not withstand the large amount of forces in a heavy blow. They appear to be the original ones when the boat was made 2006/7). They both look in good condition and I have checked the set up on another Bavaria 30C. near us and it is identical. A recent survey did not mention any of this.
As far as I am concerned the fixings look OK. Has anyone found the original arrangement to be dangerous or has failed?
Fair winds,
Bavnav

[Trapeze Artist]

There's not a lot of purchase on the backstay and therefore not a ot of load going through it. Unless I saw some powerful evidence to the contrary I would be happy to put my trust in Bavaria's engineering.

When I set up my rig I found that the backstay was pretty ineffectual. There was no visible change of mast bend between full backstay and no backstay. Similarly with no backstay tension, I set the cap shrouds to 25% of breaking strain. Pulling on full backstay only reduced that to 23%.

[Symphony]

Your neighbour is probably thinking of masthead rigs from the past where the backstay was indeed an important stay for holding the mast up and maintaining tension on the forestay. A fractional rig such as yours - and most other modern boats relies on the mainstays and swept back spreaders for support. The backstay's main function is to allow some bend at the top of the mast to change the mainsail shape. Many cruising people don't bother overmuch with that. The rig is designed and made by Selden who are arguably the biggest mast company in the world, so one would imagine they got their sums right! You will find most other makes of boats that have similar rigs have similar fittings.

[Bavnav]

Thanks guys. I just wanted to be reassured.
Fair winds and blue sky,
Bavnav