How Old Is Your Standing Rigging

[inspectr]

This gets better.
Rigger claims that the furler was not fitted correctly
I have the manual and the furler IS correctly installed, I send the manual to him in case he does not know what he is doing.
Job not started and I'm already losing confidence
I ask for the discarded rigging to be left on the boat, intending to test to destruction on an engineering rig to which I have access at the University. Sorry, he says, its in the dumpster and gone
All that said, job completed, boat returned to mooring looking better that I've seen it for some time
ChrisR - yes you are right, I could have had insurance from another broker, but was not comfortable. I've been insured with Club Marine for 12 years, paid premiums that amount to 25% of the value of the boat today and NO claims

[macrae]

My boat is 40 years old and has its' original standing rigging and chain plates. I inspect everything yearly and have not seen any concerns except with one turnbuckle that I added to the mizzen ten years ago. I often ask sailors who replace their rigging Why? I know that when my boat was built, it was made with pure stainless. The stuff you are replacing with now more than likely came from China and it's garbage.

[dfelsent]

Boat is 48 years old. Entire rig except forestay is 12 years old.
Forestay and roller Furler are 2 yrs old.
Two chainplates have been inspected with zero evidence of corrosion.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by inspectr

This gets better.
Rigger claims that the furler was not fitted correctly
I have the manual and the furler IS correctly installed, I send the manual to him in case he does not know what he is doing.
Job not started and I'm already losing confidence
I ask for the discarded rigging to be left on the boat, intending to test to destruction on an engineering rig to which I have access at the University. Sorry, he says, its in the dumpster and gone
All that said, job completed, boat returned to mooring looking better that I've seen it for some time
ChrisR - yes you are right, I could have had insurance from another broker, but was not comfortable. I've been insured with Club Marine for 12 years, paid premiums that amount to 25% of the value of the boat today and NO claims

who was the rigger if you don't mind me asking ?

cheers,

[inspectr]

ChrisR
At the end of the day the job was done well, and I'm happy with the work. The rigger went the extra mile to pick up and deliver the boat and worked around some other distractions
I'm not willing to appear to disrespect the guy on a forum, I will seek his help in the future as required
My bitch is that the work was unnecessary
You can PM me and I will respond privately

[Rumbottle]

I act for Yacht Insurance Companies in S.E.Asia. If the standing rigging is more than 12 years old most Companies do not cover the mast and any subsequent damage if the standing rigging fails.

Main problems are at the lower swages...just inside where you cant see them ..where the salt water runs down and sits (if you didn't seal them when the rigging was new). A test with some torsion using vice-grips may cause some SS strands to break, which seriously indicates that it's time to change the standing rigging.

[Exile]

And yet I've had 3 separate surveyors tell me that upwards of 90% of dismastings result from broken chainplates, not the wire rigging or its connections.

[contrail]

Owned boats since 1982. Always renew the rig every ten years. Only once did we not discover a justification, upon inspection. By the way, the rig ages whether you sail or not, whether you are on the hard or not. The wind sets up vibration cycles, and that adds up to fatigue. In addition, if not rinsed, it is possible to get salt down in the lower swages, as mentioned above. If you amortize the price of the rig over ten years, and then compare it amortized over fifteen or even twenty years, the annual difference is not that much, for peace of mind. My current cat is 21 years old, on her third set of rigging, replaced two years ago.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by inspectr

ChrisR
At the end of the day the job was done well, and I'm happy with the work. The rigger went the extra mile to pick up and deliver the boat and worked around some other distractions
I'm not willing to appear to disrespect the guy on a forum, I will seek his help in the future as required
My bitch is that the work was unnecessary
You can PM me and I will respond privately

fair enough...no problems. if you're wiling to use him again says it all.

gota agree with you about the need to replace rigging every 10 or so years, but what can we do ?

but must also raise the question : is it only insurance co's in australia who require this ? judging from this thread there is a whole lot of boats out there with old rigging, and they can't ALL be uninsured, can they ?

cheers,

[PirateGuy]

Originally Posted by inspectr

This gets better.
Rigger claims that the furler was not fitted correctly
I have the manual and the furler IS correctly installed, I send the manual to him in case he does not know what he is doing.
Job not started and I'm already losing confidence
I ask for the discarded rigging to be left on the boat, intending to test to destruction on an engineering rig to which I have access at the University. Sorry, he says, its in the dumpster and gone
All that said, job completed, boat returned to mooring looking better that I've seen it for some time
ChrisR - yes you are right, I could have had insurance from another broker, but was not comfortable. I've been insured with Club Marine for 12 years, paid premiums that amount to 25% of the value of the boat today and NO claims

Heck, if you are willing to insure your boat for a premium of 25% of its value, I’ll insure your boat.

[PirateGuy]

Originally Posted by macrae

My boat is 40 years old and has its' original standing rigging and chain plates. I inspect everything yearly and have not seen any concerns except with one turnbuckle that I added to the mizzen ten years ago. I often ask sailors who replace their rigging Why? I know that when my boat was built, it was made with pure stainless. The stuff you are replacing with now more than likely came from China and it's garbage.

All stainless steels are alloys of iron and other metals. You can have pure (24 carat) gold, 0.999 pure silver, electrically pure copper.

By definition, you can’t have pure stainless steel.

[billgewater]

Yes. Have been there with galvanized rigging and SS. Now dyneema. The major problems all concurred with SS. The galvanized rigging gave lots of warnings if deteriorating but the first lot after 20 years was as strong as its original specs. The SS had lost much of its strength.
However, I do believe that the real issue is just who provides the rigging and installs/inspects it. An acquaintance recently had the complete rigging replaced prior to an Atlantic crossing. The forestay parted from the mast head nearly wiping out his crew in the cockpit (falling mast). The rigging company dived under the covers but fortunately his insurance came good. The problem with this implication is that the insurance companies often demand over the top surveys and replacements. Tricky.

I recently went for Dyneema reasonably aware of its stretch issues and cost, but what swung my decision was that I could carry my complete standing rig (not pre stretched) in a plastic bag. (my tub is a 45 year old 16 m ketch - lots of stuff up there.) i.e. I could carry enough to do replacements myself. No swaging needed or screws (although I have utilized some). If performance (high weight reduction) is important to you then Dyneema wins hands down, but probably not as relevant for cruisers.
I still have reservations about the UV /longevity issues with Dyneema and keep an eye out for commentary. I don't know how to assess its strength reduction unless it has gone fluffy on the surface. I do plan to replace it after ten years and have it all tested then. Any advice appreciated.
I guess also that we are victims of brand quality. There are good SS products and rubbish ones and it is presumably the same with just about any type of rigging materials. Buyer beware.

[michaeld]

We replaced the standing rigging and chainplates on Imagine last fall. She is a 1985 Kaufman 47, built at the Kha Shing boat yard in Taiwan. We purchased her in 2016. We were unable to find out if the rigging was original or not, although we think it was since the turnbuckles and swage fittings looked "old school" from that time period. Anyway, we discovered that the backstay chainplate had a crack in it, so we got busy with replacement.

Photos can be seen here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UixFmDkv5R9sePjH9 (Backstay & Chainplate)
and here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/X39jmxM7MJhBXBNn6 (Shrouds & Chainplates)

The wife and I did most of the work, but we did have friends come to help me up and down the rig replacing the stay and shrouds. Lower forward and aft chainplates were taken to a local fabricator. We did the polishing of the tangs using an angle grinder and an orbital sander finishing up with 3000 grit to get the mirror finish. After they were replaced along with the shrouds, we tackled the mid & upper shrouds. Removal of the chainplates was intrusive, as you can see from the photos.

Questions???

[gulfcoastsailor]

Our boat 35 years
chain plates: None
Tangs: none
Rigging terminals: none
All rigging wire: none
There’s more ‘nones’ on my list as well

Oh yeah, standing rigging: none 😊

[OneKoolCat]

My boat is a 2008 with original standing rigging. I go up and check things out at the beginning and end of the season (or if I end up the mast for some reason).

My running rigging I am planning to start replacing next season. I will prbably have a professional inspect next season as well. I was going to this season but well you know the world went a little wonky.