Replace Catalac standing rigging - Cost?

[sailorgal]

Have any of you Catalac owners had to replace your standing rigging and if so, what was the approximate cost. Did you have to have any parts shipped from England?

From some other threads, it seems that about $5000 for a 35 ft. catamaran seems in the ballpark, but someone at the boatyard said that if you had to special order parts from England, it could run up to $20,000. That seems very excessive to me, but I thought I'd ask here.

I'm going to look at a boat tomorrow and was told that it would need to have its rigging inspected and/or replaced before any heavy-duty cruising, so I want to know what to expect as far as $$$ in that regard.

Thanks all!

[Woods Designs]

Any rigger can change the standing rigging, no need for anything to be specially imported. You don't say what Catalac you are viewing, but a 8m or 9m probably uses 1/4in wire and each stay will be max 35ft long so you can easily get a quote, even on line

good luck!

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

[Talbot]

I seem to recall that the shrouds and backstay are 7mm , and babystay and lower shrouds were 6mm.

The most expensive item is the forestay - if you have a rotostay . There is a special part which fits inside the foil and is compression fitted.

I did my 9m about 5 years ago including new rotostay, and new rigging screws for about $2500, and that include substantial work on the mast as well.

If you need a new forestay and it is a rotostay, I would strongly recommend that you get your rigger to measure, and then order a replacement yourself from XW rigging in gosport as that way you will get the correct thing, and it will be MUCH cheaper.

[Tropic Cat]

If you're looking at a Catalac 10M the rigging wire will be 5/16". Catalac 8M and 9M's are 1/4" 1x19 SS wire. Both types can be ordered from any local rigger as Richard and Mark have already mentioned. The only caveat is the chain plates (all boats) or a missing tabernacle (Catalac 8M and 9M). If missing or damaged, remanufacturing replacements will be expensive.

If the boat has the original Furler, it was manufactured by Rotostay in Great Britain. A drawing of the unit can be found on my website, along with a parts list. Today, the units are serviced by:

XW Rigging Ltd
Unit 17, Haslar Marina
HaslarRoad, Gosport PO12 1NU
Tel: +44 (0)23 92513553
Fsc+44 (0)23 9258 3634


I've done business with them and can say that their service is excellent and delivery is flawless. I will say that parts are not inexpensive, yet it's probably cost effective to repair a damaged furler.

If you are still evaluating a specific boat, and it has rigging problems, do yourself a favor and examine the babystay attachment point. Bolts here do fail and it's the one of the few parts of the boat with balsa coring. You check this point for core damage.

[Bill_E]

I just had my standing rigging replaced on a monohull. I worried a lot about price and quality, and even whether it was necessary before I did it.
Finally I had it done by a local rigger, not cheap! But I am comfortable that the work was high quality and I had a few other things done at the same time. Total cost was about $4000.

[Jmolan]

Consider Dynex Dux as a very viable option. I have rigged half my Searunner and will rig the rest within a month and take a bunch of shots then. I used 7mm to replace the 1/4" breaking strength 15,000 lbs.) and 9mm on the forestay so I can use my hanked on sail with a little more confidence. (9mm is 26,500 lbs. breaking strength) There is more and more info coming out as the rigs are using it. A couple links. It will be cheaper then SS and way lighter and you can do it your self.

dynex dux - SparTalk

Colligonautique.com

[Tropic Cat]

I had thought the jury was still out on all HMPE lines? Even though they are UV coated, the coatings can and will chafe off. Then the degrading curve is 20% loss of strength for each 1000 hours of exposure. The other issue was creep which is elongation of the finished line while under constant load over time (months).

I know this was developed for riggers and the fishing industry and the stuff is stronger than steel, but sailboat rigging has been an application that has been a challenge for it..

[Jmolan]

Originally Posted by rickm505

I had thought the jury was still out on all HMPE lines? Even though they are UV coated, the coatings can and will chafe off. Then the degrading curve is 20% loss of strength for each 1000 hours of exposure. The other issue was creep which is elongation of the finished line while under constant load over time (months).

I know this was developed for riggers and the fishing industry and the stuff is stronger than steel, but sailboat rigging has been an application that has been a challenge for it..

Where did you get your figures on degrading? I have never seen anything on Dux and would like to know. I knew Dux was rated best of the synthetics on UV. F27's rigged many years ago in California are still standing. Maybe it was Kevlar that your thinking of? Or better yet I bet it was POB. That is the stuff they put on before a race and take off after as it goes to dust in no time....wierd....Unless it is coated. And costs a small fortune to rig.

I have had Dux Lifelines, Running backstays, backstay, and all halyards exposed to intense Sonora Desert sunshine for two years. If they degraded 20% every 1000 hours they would have been reduced to powder a long time ago.

Creep we have beaten by keeping the load under 10% of breaking strength. If you have the small of a load you get no creep. Read the Brion Toss link I posted. In Austrailia the guy took up 1/2 turn on shrouds and none on the backstay in one year of tropical sunshine. "no creep"

So far I know of no problems rigging with Dux. Too often people mistake it for spectra, or hmpe line. Dux is a step past those, not the same.