A few weeks ago we sailed the last 1000 miles to Barbados under trysail and poled out jib, with 20+ knots from dead aft.

However, when we tried to sail on the wind with this rig, we could not get the jib to sheet in. Cranking quite a bit harder than normal on the sheet winch, we saw an unusually large headstay sag, and a big belly in the jib. We cannot see any change in the rig. We know that the turnbuckles have not moved, because all are wired and the wire is intact.

Should we expect unusual mast bend or other impact of sailing with a 550 sq ft jib, and 100 sq ft trysail, which would cause huge headstay sag??

We set up our standing rig a few years ago with a Loos gauge to recommended tension (I think 15% of each wire’s breaking strength) and plan to check again this week if the local rigger has the equipment.

Milvina is a very solid aluminium boat, so we do not believe the loose headstay is caused by hull distortion

Any ideas on headstay sag I this context would be appreciated