[en] The row model for frustrated XY spins on a triangular lattice in 2D is used to study incommensurate (IC) and commensurate (C) phases, in the regime where a (C)-(IC) transition may be observed. Thermodynamic quantities for the (IC) state are computed analytically by means of the NSCHA, a new variational method appropriate for frustrated systems. On the commensurate side of the (C)-(IC) boundary, NSCHA predicts an instability of the (C) phase suggesting that this state is in fact spatially inhomogeneous. Detailed Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations using fluctuating boundary conditions and specific histogram techniques show that in this regime the configuration consists of stripes of (C) and (IC) phases alternating in space. This state, which resembles the smectic-A phase of liquid crystals, exists because of the strong coupling between chiral and phase (spin angle) variables. As a result, the transition between the (IC) and the (C) states can only occur at zero temperature T so that the Lifshitz point is at T = 0 for modulated XY spins in 2D. (author)