[benz]

There are two opinions constantly at war within me. The first, to make my rig as light and simple as possible, with no moving parts. The second, to do whatever it takes to make it stupid strong, so that the hull would have to break apart before the mast went by the board. The second opinion usually seems more sensible when I'm double-reefed in a gale watching the forestay bow off to leeward and listening to the rattle of leeward shrouds which did not go slack when I tuned the rig in more clement conditions. I have spent many long nights at the tiller balefully picturing every piece of the rig stretching and deforming, until every untoward sound, every luff of the storm jib, made me think, "that's it! there goes the stick!" During those times, there is no such thing as overbuilding; no such thing as too much rigging.
If you sail often in strong winds, even an unnecessary running backstay might offer gobs of comfort, and may even enbolden you to push on through under sail rather than resorting to the motor.
A wise man once said: "If you're gonna wish you had, you might as well do it."
Following seas!
Ben