How often do people really replace their rigging holding mast

[circumnavigator]

Depends upon
1. Type of rigging rod vrs wire
2. Time sailing as opposed to laying on a mooring or on the hard.
3. Initial quality of the wire. Chinese vrs American
4. How hard was the boat sailed.

[DumnMad]

Originally Posted by circumnavigator

Depends upon
1. Type of rigging rod vrs wire
2. Time sailing as opposed to laying on a mooring or on the hard.
3. Initial quality of the wire. Chinese vrs American
4. How hard was the boat sailed.

Plus Climate; Hot, salty, windy (= sea-spray), and not much freshwater washing.

[Dos Gatos]

I replaced mine twice in two years. Shock loading caused the same two pieces of cable to fail both times. Upsized the second time and still failed. Lower starboard shroud and backstay where the cable meets the swage and strands were going one at a time. 15k nm on a starboard tack will do that.

Maybe 20 years if you're day sailing.

The nylon trick won't find fractures in the hardware. (and who does it anyway?) There's more to failure than meathooks.

[btrayfors]

Originally Posted by Dos Gatos

I replaced mine twice in two years. Shock loading caused the same two pieces of cable to fail both times. Upsized the second time and still failed. Lower starboard shroud and backstay where the cable meets the swage and strands were going one at a time. 15k nm on a starboard tack will do that.

Maybe 20 years if you're day sailing.

The nylon trick won't find fractures in the hardware. (and who does it anyway?) There's more to failure than meathooks.

Dos Gatos,

Something very wrong there...two replacements and failures in two years???

"15nm on a starboard tack will do that". No way. Not even 1,500 nm on a starboard tack, if the boat is correctly rigged.

I'd call in a professional rigger before wasting more money replacing your rigging piecemeal.

Bill

[Dos Gatos]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

Dos Gatos,

Something very wrong there...two replacements and failures in two years???

"15nm on a starboard tack will do that". No way. Not even 1,500 nm on a starboard tack, if the boat is correctly rigged.

I'd call in a professional rigger before wasting more money replacing your rigging piecemeal.

Bill

re-read; 15k nm (15 thousand nautical miles in two years)

went around the pacific high a couple of times 2010-2012. trailer boats have their practical limits.

[model 10]

25yr old rigging may look perfect on the outside but if you cut it apart and inspect the interior wires, there is probably going to be a good bit of corrosion.

[boatman61]

Never.... I just sell the boat...

[appick]

Actually I think I may have the record here.... although I guess it's probably not something to be proud of. I have a 1961 Columbia 29 a Sparkman Stephens design. Prior to me it had one owner for 48 years, then a you guy had it for 2 years. I now have it and other than the fore stay being replace for a roller furling unit in '05. I don't believe its had any new rigging. Although as some have said this is probably fairly common for many Great Lakes boats. I check the rigging twice a year and so far have found no signs of cracks or broken wires. I've had it out in 30-40knt gales and its stood up. I've also been laid down with the windows in the water when a particularly strong gust of wind came up on an already blustery day. That being said it is on the list of upgrades that are being planned, and I realize it's a ticking time bomb after 52 years of regular use of cruising and daysailing.

[Andrew Troup]

It's widely known there are often problems around or not far inside the top of the swage of the bottom terminals, in salt water use in the tropics - concentration cells get set up by the water continually evaporating away leaving the salt load behind.

People try to keep water out of the swage by various means but it's problematic partly as has already been mentioned because it tends to set up oxygen starvation leading to crevice corrosion - ideally a boat used in these parts of the world, I think, would be best with discontinuous rigging and replacing the lowest elements perhaps twice as frequently as the remainder.

Of course the entire forestay cannot generally be rendered discontinous, so the whole stay qualifies as a 'lowest element' and in any case any stay on which sails are flown should be replaced in toto more often, given the fatigue-inducing fluctuating loads to which they are subject.

In the bridle-rigged backstay case, you could try and get by with not replacing the upper panel as frequently, but personally I think the junction is probably too close to the salt source, ie the sea surface....

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by appick

Actually I think I may have the record here.... although I guess it's probably not something to be proud of. I have a 1961 Columbia 29 a Sparkman Stephens design. Prior to me it had one owner for 48 years, then a you guy had it for 2 years. I now have it and other than the fore stay being replace for a roller furling unit in '05. I don't believe its had any new rigging. Although as some have said this is probably fairly common for many Great Lakes boats. I check the rigging twice a year and so far have found no signs of cracks or broken wires. I've had it out in 30-40knt gales and its stood up. I've also been laid down with the windows in the water when a particularly strong gust of wind came up on an already blustery day. That being said it is on the list of upgrades that are being planned, and I realize it's a ticking time bomb after 52 years of regular use of cruising and daysailing.

I would bet it could go another 52 yrs ..

[Jim Cate]

I believe that there are two failure modes for s/s rigging wire: corrosion and fatigue.

The corrosion issue is obviously lessened by fresh water use, but I doubt if the fatigue is changed much. Thus, failures above the lower terminal would be less, but the common fatigue fractures at the exit point of the upper terminal in a furler headstay might not be thus reduced.

Something for you Great Lakes sailors to consider...

Cheers,

Jim