scudding along wrote:
Sorry, I know this is dumb. My old boat had a crimped 2' length of
wire about head high on the backstay. This clipped onto the end of the
boom and secured it when the sail wasn't up.
The handsome new "boat-in-a-basket" doesn't have that. It doesn't have
a rest on the housetop or a vang. It has a stirrup of some type on the
end of the boom by the outhaul. One of the rigging wires from the top
of the mast is dedicated to this? Where does it stow when the sail's
up? It's a short, wide, light weight coastal cruiser type of sprightly
craft. Mast is 26', boom is about 11', I think. Thanks again.
Only 6 months 'til summer!

The topping lift you refer to is sometimes left on the boom end, but
slackened off when sailing if it emerges from the mast onto a cleat. If it
is a "fixed" topping lift you would have to take it off the boom end and
make it up to a cleat on the mast when sailing.

6 months! Where do you live, the north pole?