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standing rigging
Roger Long wrote:
I would certainly agree with 10 years in salt water although very few people actually do. I can't remember seeing or hearing of a dismasted coastal cruiser. You don't get out enough. Happens several times a year in pretty much every major sailing area. I know of 2 on the Chesapeake last year, for example, and that's just the ones I heard of (happened to friend of a friend etc etc). rhys wrote: There's the obvious eyeball "tests" of looking for cracks, rust weeping, deformation of holes, fraying wire, terminals with suspiciously shiny wire, etc. Another key to look for is uneven lay to the strands. Most faults in standing rigging require at least a magnifying glass to spot. I use a magnifyer plus a 18V xenon work light. There's the dye tests. Interpreting those is a rigger's art. Not really. The dye is just to show smaller cracks & porosities than could be seen with just a magnifiier & bright light. There's the X-ray tests. Even more so. I have 1/4" original (33 years) 7 x 19 standing rigging all around in freshwater with good quality Merriman open turnbuckles which I inspect and lube yearly. I eyeball the entire spar before launch, paying particular attention to cotter pins, tangs, etc. My insurance company isn't making a fuss, and the boat passes survey requirements. I'm surprised some of the tangs don't have elongated holes... bet you've replaced pins a couple of times... 33 years would make me nervous, but the expense of replacing standing rigging would also make me hesitate. IMHO there's no reason to replace standing rigging without some indications from proper inspection. Fresh Breezes- Doug King |
standing rigging
On Sun, 01 Jan 2006, DSK wrote:
Roger Long wrote:\ I would certainly agree with 10 years in salt water although very few people actually do. I can't remember seeing or hearing of a dismasted coastal cruiser. You don't get out enough. Happens several times a year in pretty much every major sailing area. I know of 2 on the Chesapeake last year, for example, and that's just the ones I heard of (happened to friend of a friend etc etc). Two boats that are kept in our marina on the L.I. Sound, in an area where folk generally do monitor and attend to the condition of their boats, were dismasted last summer, and we saw at least three others (boats ranging in size from +/- 25' to +/- 42') and, on one particularly active racing/sailing weekend, I heard of three other dismasted boats in the area while monitor the radio (and seeing SeaTow or BoatUS boats speeding to the distressed callers). |
standing rigging
Happens more than that out here...
-- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com "DSK" wrote in message .. . Roger Long wrote: I would certainly agree with 10 years in salt water although very few people actually do. I can't remember seeing or hearing of a dismasted coastal cruiser. You don't get out enough. Happens several times a year in pretty much every major sailing area. I know of 2 on the Chesapeake last year, for example, and that's just the ones I heard of (happened to friend of a friend etc etc). rhys wrote: There's the obvious eyeball "tests" of looking for cracks, rust weeping, deformation of holes, fraying wire, terminals with suspiciously shiny wire, etc. Another key to look for is uneven lay to the strands. Most faults in standing rigging require at least a magnifying glass to spot. I use a magnifyer plus a 18V xenon work light. There's the dye tests. Interpreting those is a rigger's art. Not really. The dye is just to show smaller cracks & porosities than could be seen with just a magnifiier & bright light. There's the X-ray tests. Even more so. I have 1/4" original (33 years) 7 x 19 standing rigging all around in freshwater with good quality Merriman open turnbuckles which I inspect and lube yearly. I eyeball the entire spar before launch, paying particular attention to cotter pins, tangs, etc. My insurance company isn't making a fuss, and the boat passes survey requirements. I'm surprised some of the tangs don't have elongated holes... bet you've replaced pins a couple of times... 33 years would make me nervous, but the expense of replacing standing rigging would also make me hesitate. IMHO there's no reason to replace standing rigging without some indications from proper inspection. Fresh Breezes- Doug King |
standing rigging
rhys wrote:
snip Brion Toss's "Rigger's Companion" is great on all this stuff, or buy a surveyor a few beers. Thanks Rhys and others. Our marina owner has been around boats all his life and his take is that unless the wire is pulling out of the swages, rigging doesn't stretch and doesn't need replacing for that reason. I'm not sure I agree. I'm guessing the gear on mine is as old as the boat (40 yrs. this year) It -looks- good, to my eye, but I'm not a surveyor. My issue is with the inner starboard shroud which appears to have been stretched. The mast is measured true, chainplates and swages appear correct but the turnbuckle is tightened completely to the end of its threads compared to the port side. No evidence of galling or overtightening on the threads. Perhaps a poor measuring job sometime in the past? I think I'm going to err on the side of caution and have it all redone. I like the idea of new sheaves and rope halyards as well. |
standing rigging
In article ,
prodigal1 wrote: My issue is with the inner starboard shroud which appears to have been stretched. The mast is measured true, chainplates and swages appear correct but the turnbuckle is tightened completely to the end of its threads compared to the port side. No evidence of galling or overtightening on the threads. Perhaps a poor measuring job sometime in the past? If it's the only shroud, that's probably the case, though inspect the upper attachment carefully. I think I'm going to err on the side of caution and have it all redone. I like the idea of new sheaves and rope halyards as well. Sometimes, the comfort of knowing it's right is worth the cost. -- Jere Lull Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD) Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/ |
standing rigging
My 28' S2 was out of the water and the mast was down and I had no
intention of replacing the rigging even after 20 yrs cuz it looked ok even on close inspection. However, I read an article in the BOATUS insurance mag about rigging cracks so I got out my 10x magnifier and looked even closer. Damn if I didnt find a crack in a SS fitting. I looked more and used very fine sand paper to remove some brown stains. Under these stains were cracks and the stains were where the SS had become non-SS in the cracks. About half the fittings had cracks (20 yrs in salt water in FL). Next, i tried dye testing which showed nothing even on the known cracks. Took the fittings to work where I have more sophisticated equipment and looked at the fittings under various Mag. Tried to grind out the cracks but they went all the way through so they were real. I replaced all the standing rigging and lifelines. |
standing rigging
"Roger Long" wrote in message ... I would certainly agree with 10 years in salt water although very few people actually do. I can't remember seeing or hearing of a dismasted coastal cruiser. Any Great Lakes or other fresh water owners have recommendations or dismastings to report? -- Roger Long Not answering your question - but attempting to put another dimension into the discussion - Most failures on properly designed rigs are due to metal fatigue (agreed, often initiated by tiny corrosion weaknesses). So surely the prudent timing of rig replacement will depend on the degree to which the rig is over-designed? A point often ignored by insurers. A European example which I know of is the difference between a 40ft Oyster and a 40ft Beneteau, both built around 1990, with nearly identical masts. All the Oyster's main rigging was 10mm, with intermediates of 8mm. The Beneteau used 8mm with 6mm intermediates. The Oyster was advertised as a 'round the worlder', the other as a 'performance cruiser'. My (unthinking) reaction would be to life the Beneteau rigging at around 10 years, and give the Oyster nearly twice that. But then the mean streak in me came out. Instead I instituted a regime of annual *close* inspection (most of the suitable techniques have been aired already). Bottlescrew crack? See if there's an obvious cause of the fault; if you can't find a cause, replace them all. Strand gone? Search for obvious causes; if none, replace all similarly stressed wires. Under this regime all the Beneteau rigging was replaced between 8 and 12 years old (inner forestay twice). Most replacements were initiated by strand failures at the bottom swage. The Oyster changed a forestay at 10 years (yard damage bent the stay when the mast was lowered, cracking a strand at the upper swage) and the backstay sustained damage on a yacht lift. The inner forestay was replaced twice - cracks at the lower swage. All bottlescrews replaced. 25 years so far for caps and intermediates . . . I think the new owner is replacing these for long term peace of mind! I'm aware that the Oyster was about twice the displacement of the Beneteau, so the inertia stresses on the Beneteau rigging would have been higher (all that bouncing around!). So perhaps my assumption about overdesign has been amplified in this case. Whatever, my conclusions a 1. Nothing beats annual *close* inspection for checking rig safety 2. Corrosion initiates many failures (bottom swage faults most common) 3. Your chances of suffering a fault are much higher on more highly stressed rigs 4. The 'life' of a rig can be very long indeed if it is understressed (under-use or overdesign) So, thinking about all the rain we have in W Europe, my opinion (untested) is that the fresh water issue is probably secondary compared to the design issue. JimB |
standing rigging
On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 11:34:39 -0000, "News f2s"
wrote: I'm aware that the Oyster was about twice the displacement of the Beneteau, so the inertia stresses on the Beneteau rigging would have been higher (all that bouncing around!). ============================================= Perhaps not. The most important predictor of rigging stress is righting moment (resistance to heeling). A boat with a higher righting moment can carry more sail for a given wind strength, and consequently has higher rigging loads. |
standing rigging
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standing rigging
"News f2s" wrote in message ... Under this regime all the Beneteau rigging was replaced between 8 and 12 years old (inner forestay twice). Most replacements were initiated by strand failures at the bottom swage. The Oyster changed a forestay at 10 years (yard damage bent the stay when the mast was lowered, cracking a strand at the upper swage) and the backstay sustained damage on a yacht lift. The inner forestay was replaced twice - cracks at the lower swage. All bottlescrews replaced. 25 years so far for caps and intermediates . . . I think the new owner is replacing these for long term peace of mind! Sorry, senior moment there. Oyster was 1988 boat, rigging 18 yrs old - not 25! JimB |
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