Eye Straps

Posted By: Doug, 91', Mac26s, San Diego, CA
Date: 6/25/08 8:23a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: tHANKS FOR THE INFO! (Mike Coon)

Mine has SS eye straps too. I believe it came from the factory like that. Those staps are strong, the backing is what's important. I replaced the side stays with some good quality yacht braid, much steonger than it needs to be, and I only did that to make it look better. The old yacht braid, likely original, was gray and tired looking. I used some good SS shackles at both ends. The shackles are rated for someting like 1650 lbs. Realistically, the amout of tension exerted on the side stays is not that much. Next time you are raising or lowering the mast, stop at different points and push the mast side to side. You'll see there is not that much tension on the side stays. They basically guide the mast, keep it more or less centered. At a certain point the shrouds take over. Having said that, I still wouldn't use aluminum carabiners you get from Home Depot. Those are used for hooking you keys to your belt loop.