Backstays on Neptunes

Posted By: KRUSE'N MAC 22 X NEPTUNE 16
Date: 5/4/07 6:37p.m.

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In Response To: Backstay (dick)

I am a past owner of a Neptune 16, and mine came from the factory with a taller mast and shorter boom than any other Neptune that I have seen. It did not have a backstay, but one was an option on the order form. If you shorten the boom with the mast you have, you will loose sail area, and the boat will be slower. The backstay is not needed for the low mast, the side stays are adequate for the stress that you can produce. I have rolled mine 90 degrees and tied down the mast to work on the swing keel. That excedes any force you can achieve sailing. My swing keel was the aluminum plate with lead on the bottom end. Great sailing boats, I sailed in wind as great as 26, gusting to 32, measured within 2 miles of where I was sailing. We didn't get wet, but it was close at times as 1/4 of the waves were whitecaps, and I pointed up as the breaking waves were almost to me, and took them on the bow. One advantage of the long boom boats is rigging the halyard to the end of the boom and putting a tarp over it for a tent. It covers the whole cockpit, and makes sleeping in the cockpit dry, even in dew or rain. Mine had about 2 feet out from under.