Backstay on J44

[Jan Ankerstjerne]

Does anyone on this forum have an opinion and knowledge about backstays and checkstays on the J 44. Under what conditions are they necessary? Can the boat, like the J 120, possibly be sailed without them when the conditions are not too extreme?

[Chris Campbell]

Hi Jan,

I have an opinion, sure! First, terminology: I refer to the backstay as the fixed single rod which goes from the hydraulic adjuster up to the masthead, and the checkstays as the adjustable lines which come from the transom (more or less) on each side and attach at two points each on the mast.

Here's how we use them: the backstay controls forestay tension and mast bend, imparting more of both of those as it's tensioned, which effectively depowers the rig as it flattens both sails. If you should want less forestay sag but want to keep the main powered up, you can apply checkstay tension to take the mast bend back out, putting depth back into the mainsail.

They are also supposed to be useful to prevent pumping of the rig, and likely are, but as we never have them completely off (they're usually hand tight shortly after a tack or a gybe) I don't know how the rig would behave without them.

There is a J/35 in our fleet which has put bungee cord on them to the backstay which keeps them out of the way so they can ignore them when they don't want them - you could try something similar and see if you miss them, that way if you got pumping you wanted to settle (it's a big rig to have misbehaving on you!) you could quickly add some tension to them. Another alternative is to add line to them and bring them forward to the mast to have out of the way, but then the line is crossing the deck back to the transom and is in the way.

I'm sure others have opinions too!

Cheers,

Chris

[Sue Mikulski]

Used on Nick Browns J/44 in the Solent, 1991, here’s a pic of that helps.  Sue⛵️

On Feb 1, 2026, at 7:54 AM, Chris Campbell <camp...@ramoak.com> wrote:

Hi Jan,

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[ankg...@gmail.com]

We have check stays on our J/46. We don’t use them much in round-the-buoys racing or in light air. In distance races we typically do use them to keep the rig stable in waves and to keep camber in the main. If you have an inner forestay the check stay counteracts the bending force of the inner forestay and keeps it tight.

 

The J/46 has a carbon mast that is pretty stiff. The J/44 has an aluminum mast that supposedly is a bit more tender. That’s a consideration, too.

 

Al

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