Joe wrote:

With 160 square feet of sail what kind of load on a stay should I
expect.

Any basic formula? Or do I need to get somes sort of scales together

Are you talking about a shroud or a stay? Stays need to be sized to the
righting moment of the vessel, plus the tension of opposing stays.
Forestays and backstays tend to be more highly loaded, and should be sized
by mast compression.



Reason I ask Im putting an inner stay back on, that was removed when I
replaced the anchor windlass. I found a Navy #1 made in 1910 that is
hot dipped galv on cast iron in mint condition. Hate to do it but, I
need to tap the top of the bollard to attach the stay and want to use
the smallest size bolt that will suffice.

The old system was a electric winch P.O.S. that had the inner stay
welded to the case.

It sounds like you're talking about an inner forestay, which can be any
size you want.

If it were me, planning to fly a sail from it, I'd size it to match the
standng forestay or perhaps one size smaller. An inner forestay is a great
safety feature and useful for flying storm jibs from. Not something you
want to use 'minimum size' IMHO.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King