thumb|Schematic view of the bow of a ship, showing: '''A''' the ''martingale stay'', '''B''' the ''dolphin striker'' and '''C''' the ''bobstay''. [[File:HMS Victory - bows.jpg|thumb|Bows of HMS ''Victory'': three parallel bobstays, separate dolphin-striker with martingale stays.]] A '''bobstay''' is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tension on the bowsprit from the jibs and forestay. A bobstay may run directly from the stem to the bowsprit,<ref>[http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/articles/Gaffergear/bowsprit2/Bowsprit%20Article.htm Bowsprits] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330020458/http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/Articles/Gaffergear/bowsprit2/Bowsprit%20Article.htm |date=2015-03-30 }}, Classic Marine</ref> or it may run to a dolphin striker, a spar projecting downward, which is then held to the bowsprit or jibboom by a martingale stay.
==See also== *Bill Bobstay is a character in the operetta ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' (1878) by Gilbert and Sullivan. *''Bobstay'' was a 1977 detonation in the United States' ''Operation Cresset'' nuclear test series.
==References== {{Wiktionary-inline}} {{Reflist}}
{{Sail Types}}
Category:Nautical terminology Category:Sailing rigs and rigging