Stays (nautical)

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Stays are the heavy ropes, wires, or rods on sailing vessels that run from the masts to the hull, usually fore-and-aft along the centerline of the vessel (lines running from the mast to the side of the boat are usually called shrouds instead).

A ship sailing upwind by zigzagging must either tack (turn into the wind, through a small angle) or jibe (turn away from the wind, through a large angle). The term wear is a lesser used synonym for jibe (sometimes spelled gybe), however wear is mainly used when referring to tall ships.

Tacking is trickier than jibing because there is less time, and because there is a point in the turn when the ship is pointing directly upwind and so must depend on its momentum to continue the turn. If the sails are not adjusted in time the ship loses momentum and can't complete the turn; it has to stop and jibe instead. On a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel, such as a sloop, it's easy to tack because the sails can be moved on their booms; on a square-rigged ship the operation is much more complicated.

The term arises because on a square-rigged vessel, the fore-and-aft sail called the spanker is used to keep the ship turning as it passes through the eye of the wind. A staysail is so-called because it is rigged using the stays.

To miss stays is an unsuccessful attempt to tack.

See also

• Sail-plan
• Staysail
• Glossary of nautical terms

 

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