Our boat came with a backstay adjuster of the kind that has a heavy
tackle hauling down sheaves on a split leg.

(You can see it on this page http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Boat2.htm)

I can't see what this is doing on a masthead rig except maybe to
unload the hull when not being sailed. With a 3/4" hull cruising
boat, I'm not too worried about letting the stern back down in the
water after sailing. The former owner had a lot of funny ideas and
maybe this was just one of his responses to a boat which is not a hot
machine going to windward.

I'd like to clean up the after deck area and it looks like I could
dispense with this by changing out one turnbuckle part and tensioning
appropriately.

Can anyone give me a reason for keeping this set up on a cruising
boat?

--

Roger Long