Rigging Inspection - Advice Requested

[Plangstraat]

We have a 2000 Beneteau 321 that we purchased in 2015. We live in Victoria B.C. Our cruising grounds are the Pacific Northwest.
We have no record of the rigging ever having been inspected. I assume that the boat is overdue for this type of inspection.
We plan to have the rigging inspected this winter but want to make sure we ask the right questions and that we get the service we want.
Having never done this on a boat I would appreciate some advice.
1. What can I do myself and what sorts of things should I ask the rigger to inspect?
2. What are "essential" things to replace and what are "nice to haves"?
3. What should I expect in terms of cost?
4. For those of you who live on Vancouver Island do you have any recommendations of riggers?
I appreciate any advice and input.

[Pizzazz]

IMHO, it is very difficult to catch a developing problem with standing rigging via inspection unless you have some high end equipment. An inspection would typically show obvious deterioration. This is why most people just replace everything every 10-15 years. If you intend to keep the boat for long, I would suggest you replace everything, especially since you are in the Northwest.

[jt11791]

Taking the mast down and inspecting everything is worthwhile. Check your wiring, instruments, sheeves, etc. There is a lot of maintenance that is much easier to do with the rig down. Check the rigging, of course, but best just to replace if you plan on trusting it.

[Rex Delay]

Call Serge at Mainstay Yacht tech. Have dealt with them over the years and they know what they are doing.

[skipmac]

All the experts say the standing rigging must be replaced minimum every 5 years for a boat in the tropics that is sailed a lot to max 12-15 years for a boat in northern areas that is used occasionally.

Most of the rigging on my boat is over 20 years old and looks perfect but as I'm planning on some long distance cruising I'm going to replace it all but not really sure that it's absolutely necessary. The reasons, as I understand it are several.

1. Work hardening. SS is quite susceptible to work hardening. That is the characteristic of metal to weaken with repetitive stress. The classic example, taking a wire clothes hanger and bend it back and forth until it breaks. While rigging isn't subject to the sharp bending that one does to break a hanger the motion and shocks of the forces on the rigging over time can create the same kind of stress in the rigging and create a weak point that can be quite invisibile and break without warning.

2. Corrosion. Of course salt water is corrosive and even stainless steel is subject to it. Other than obvious, external corrosion on the wire and connectors corrosion can occur hidden inside the end fittings, especially swaged fitting on the bottom ends of the wires. Salt water runs down the wire and can then collect inside the swage and over time corrode the wire. This is often obvious from swelling and cracks on the barrel of the swage as the corrosion causes the wire to swell but is not always so.

What to do? First inspect the rigging. You can do a fair job yourself if you can go up the mast. Get a good, strong magnifying glass and a scrubbing pad or some bronze wool (bronze NOT steel wool).

1. Carefully scrub each swage fitting and look at it very closely and carefully with the magnifying glass for any cracks.

2. Do the same with all the toggles, chainplates, turnbuckles, etc.

3. Inspect each wire end to end. Feel the wire for any fish hooks (might want to wear gloves for this or have a box of bandaids handy). Any wire with one should be replace immediately. Visually look for any strands that are rusted or corroded.

4. Don't forget the chainplate bolts. In some boats these are glassed over or hidden behind cabinets and hard to reach but can lose the mast for you. I would remove then to inspect the bolt as they can be subject to crevice corrosion. A friend pulled the bolts on his bow chainplate and found the shaft of several bolts almost rusted through even though the visible heads of the bolts looked perfect. This problem is most likely on the bow but also any place where the chainplate bolts are exposed to the outside.

When in doubt, replace it. I purchased all new rigging for my 42' cutter including new wire, chainplates, toggles and turnbuckles for less than US $4000.

[basssears]

As someone relatively new to this I don't have much in the way of informed recommendations.

BUT I will at least give you a heads up of what you might hear for the PNW, specifically that you don't have to worry about the standing rigging as much up there because of the amount of rain they get that keeps the salt water off the standing rigging and that the winds aren't as strong during the regular sailing season so less stress on the rigging... I have been told (by a rigger no less) that 10-15 years is fine.

But again, I'm just pointing this out because it's something you might hear, whether it's legitimate statement or not I don't know enough to judge.

-- Bass

[Smokeys Kitchen]

I second the comment about the PNW that all the fresh water (rain) really helps the rigging out. I have heard that from several riggers in the Puget Sound area. Those comments were based for the most part in doing no offshore sailing; just the PNW areas like the San Juans, Gulf Islands, and the Inside Passage. Many boats we have run across this past summer had original rigging that was in the 30 year old range and had been in the PNW all their lives. What are you going to do with your boat?

That said - all the comments that Skipmac made regarding what to look for and why you replace rigging are correct. It should be well inspected, and since you don't seem to have the experience, an experienced rigger who has seen a lot of boats in your area would be the best bet. They can look at the rig and answer the questions about what are essential safety items that need to be addressed now vs something that could be done at a later date.

I am from Washington and have no experience with riggers in BC, but Brion Toss, rigger extraordinaire, lives in Port Townsend just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from you. He has been used by many people I know and comes highly recommended. You could see if he ever comes over to BC for work. The other rigger I could highly recommend is Chris Tutmark, whom I have used myself and is very good, but he is out of Seattle.

If you want to bone up on it before you get a rigger - read Brion's book "The Rigger's Apprentice" to get a good background on the subject.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by Smokeys Kitchen

I am from Washington and have no experience with riggers in BC, but Brion Toss, rigger extraordinaire, lives in Port Townsend just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from you. He has been used by many people I know and comes highly recommended. You could see if he ever comes over to BC for work. The other rigger I could highly recommend is Chris Tutmark, whom I have used myself and is very good, but he is out of Seattle.

If you're thinking of crossing to the US side, I can also recommend Northwest Rigging in Anacortes, ask for Kent.

-- Bass

[Teknishn]

I too, do not have any history of the standing rigging being repaired or replaced on my '81 Hunter 27. I did have the boat surveyed prior to purchase (Internet purchase, I was living overseas, boat was in the US). The survey report recommended changing out the standing rigging every 10 years although my standing rigging "appeared" to be in good condition.

I have now been living aboard the boat in the lower Chesapeake Bay full-time after repatriating to the States this past April. I am usually living on the hook, am sailing 3-4 days a week, and have had one chain plate give out on a shroud during a nor'easter. Spent the next week reinforcing and rebedding all of the chainplates throughout the boat while at anchor.

This past September I had a professional rigger conduct a survey on my standing rigging for non-insurance purposes ($200 vice $400 for an insurance survey). Luckily for me, the surveyor suspected that my standing rigging was replaced about 8-10 years ago and is in excellent condition.

What Skipmac shared in his post is accurate...you can do most of it yourself once one knows what to look for, and where. Best of luck!

[jfischgrund]

Some very solid advice in all the above posts. Check your insurance policy to see if there is anything in there about the age of rigging -- some policies might have a limit. A number I was given for useful life of standing rigging was 14 years. When I mentioned to the owner of my boatyard that I was getting a rigging inspection, he said, "well, I guess you are getting new rigging." He was right and I did, since almost all of it was well over 20 years old -- a really good rigging person can tell from the fittings what era the rigging is from. I don't think a rigging inspection is a good idea for an amateur, unless you are VERY knowledgeable. It was relatively inexpensive, $1,300 for a 27' boat (which included a credit for the inspection fee, and I am glad I did it. My impetus to have the inspection was the experience of a fellow sailor who lost his masts, main and mizzen, on a Cheoy Lee 35' single-handing in a light breeze when a shroud parted. The main took the mizzen down with it. You'll feel a lot better when it's done!

[Suijin]

The boat is new to you but the rig is likely 17 years old. Do yourself a favor and have the stick pulled, and go over it end to end. Ideally, you'd remove every fitting that is screwed/bolted to the mast and inspect for corrosion, clean, and rebed with a healthy dose of Tef-gel or similar. Inspect and clean sheaves, spreader ends, etc. Also inspect all the wiring, looking for chafe and or corrosion going up the wires. Now's a good time to change to LED lights, or add equipment or whatever, and you can do all of it at your leisure.

If you get a rigging inspection the focus is going to be on the shrouds and their fittings and whether it's time to replace any or all of them.

There are a few lists floating around of "things to do when the mast is down" that will show up if you Google a bit. It's worth doing as much as possible given the cost of pulling the stick.

It's also a good time to get familiar with the whole mast, end to end, so that if something does go wrong in future you won't be going up the mast blind.

The upside is that you'll have confidence in the rig when it goes back up and have many years of of good service afterwards.

[Cherod]

so many stories,,,,,,,,so here is my one,,, once had a boat,, heavy duty, rigging like brick house wall, reportedly came fro ( name with held ) which had already done circumnavigation , we used ( and tested !!! ) for good few years ,,and now 20 yrs later is still doing the business ,, make your judgments,,,, for OP,, there are a few options available for you ,, simplest and ( maybe , I don know ) is a " di - pen " kit ( so easy you will not believe if you are competent in climbing your mast ) to check all fittings etc for cracks ,, there are also apparently some guys who can check your rigging with some ultrasonics stuff ( no experience so cannot comment ) for similar defects,, pays yer money takes tyer choices ,, but OMG ,, I would love to have my mast on the ground for a little while !!

[daletournier]

When I purchased my boat twelve mths ago the rigging was 15 years old. The Polish assured me it was fine and didn't need replacing, my question how does he know that? I don't have x ray vision therefore can't see into those bottom swages . Also the work hardening aspect? I don't trust stainless steel. It doesn't always tell you it's about to break.

For piece of mind I changed all the wire and tested all fittings with a dye kit that shows cracks.

[bailsout]

My main and mizzen masts (wooden) are off the boat and all the stainless fittings polished and clean. But they’re 51 years old. I didnt see any cracks, but hardening? How do you test that? Is 51 year old stainless better than new stainless? The SS chain plates are buried. Daunting task to access them and remove all the bolts and fasteners. I don’t want to do it. Is there another way? If I do remove them, I’m replacing them with bronze and mounting them externally. If SS needs to be replaced every 10-15 years how did SS become the builders’ choice and why make them so hard to access?

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Rex Delay

Call Serge at Mainstay Yacht tech. Have dealt with them over the years and they know what they are doing.

Mainstay/Yacht Tech was purchased by Delta Marine. Serge is at Blackline.

Yes, he is an excellent rigger.