Rigging rod or wire in Super Duplex Stainless

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Poiu,

Frankly I think Navtec is rediculously conservative, and I appreciate why. I would be driven by your insurance carrier however. If they demand following Navtec's recomendations to insure the rig, then frankly there aren't a lot of options. That's a big stick you have, with a massive potential liability if it were to fall.

The insurance company for one of the race boats I worked for demanded annual inspections of the rig and all fittings. So every 11months the rig was reinspected. Not because we really thought it needed it, but because the mast was the better part of half a million bucks, and the insurance company said so.

[poiu]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Last time I checked, Navtec made it pretty clear that the "life" of rod rigging was actually dependent on load cycles. You put tension on a rod, then you release it. And the rod stretches and then contracts back. That's one load cycle. Every time you tack the boat and the rig shifts from one tack to the other, that's one load cycle.

Navtec suggests that since no one is actually counting load cycles, they can be estimated based on the type of use and amount of sailing time for any particular boat, i.e. one owner using his boat for four days per month in a six month season is putting twentyfour "days" on a boat. One boat in heavy charter use, might be putting ten times that wear on the rigging, in the same single year.

Just going by the calendar without accounting for the amount of use, or the type of use (relaxed cruising versus intense racing and heavy weather) is going to be very expensive.

If you were at sea for all six years, sure. If you were at sea three or four days every week for six years, sure. If you weren't...Well, you could always install strain gauges and actually count load cycles on the rigging if you wanted to.

Or re-rig some other way, if you felt rod was an expensive and useless thing for your boat.

Yes, type of boat and location and use makes a huge difference. Maybe you and others can get away with less maintenance and do it in a cost effective way. The inspection period ranges between 1 and 10 years for a major level C inspection going off their table.

For my boat (heavy), location (hot and sea water) and use (strong wind) I am at the middle the range and I believe I am being recommended to do the C service at 6 years max. As mentioned before this makes it necessary although not obligatory (i.e. I'd be stupid not to) to replace most of it at 6 years and all of it at 10/12 years inc turnbuckles.

Which led me onto trying to understand why the rod has such a short potential life that it needs so much maintenance attention, expense and early replacement. What could be done differently? I am sure there are other materials that won't require this sort of effort. Simplest it seems is a better grade of stainless and I am sure the best modern grades will be maintenance free for many times the life of 316 and at a high level of safety. The way corrosion is unpredictable is what scares me. We really should all have rigs with a negligible corrosion risk.

Of course there are other corrosion free materials that ought to have minimal maintenance such as carbon, titanium and Dyneema, they may work but a modern steel seems to me to be a good, simple, inexpensive way to go.

[transmitterdan]

[QUOTE="poiu;1402379"] Which led me onto trying to understand why the rod has such a short potential life that it needs so much maintenance attention, expense and early replacement. What could be done differently?[/QUOTE

The short answer is nothing can be done. We live in a litigious world and thus companies have to give ridiculously conservative recommendations. IMO that's the real reason Navtec gives such wishy washy recommendations. In the end it's up to the owner and insurance company to decide.

[u4ea32]

Lots and lots and lots of boats have Navtec rod rigging that is decades old.

Inspection and re-heading can be done by very many rigging shops. I have been quoted about 15% the cost of replacement to dye inspect and re-head, on 36 year old rod on a very heavily used racing boat. The cost of removal is not included as the mast is being pulled to put the boat into a building for refit.