Dyneema

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Steven UK

I agree with you but but You should be prepared to wait... I am also very interested in going this route but I think I’ll take a back seat and see what developers...

Patience has never been my strong suit but I agree waiting for the next generation of synthetic would be a smarter decision.

My rigging was new in 2011 and I have no idea if it is going to last or not. I have had 2 people look at it with completely different answers and that made me realise that they can't tell either.

I don't have faith that anyone can tell you if your crimped 1x19 ss wire is servicable until you have a broken strand. I have a fair amount of tea-staining on the rigging but this has no bearing on the fatigue level of the stainless.

If I change over to dyneema I don't need someone to tell me the condition of my rigging I can see for myself and I can fix it myself.

I want to go off the beaten paths a bit so self sufficiency is important.

[scuba0_1]

This team did. Has a few vids on it.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwV...bJjTJVrlL77MrQ

Sailing zingaro

He also has a lot of good splicing videos

[kristjan]

I have a Colvin and I’d consider doing my shrouds but not the forstay, no sign of any reason to change them out yet, currently is Galv wire that was soaked in epoxy and painted with some sort of two part. But copper sleeves on the thimbles. Weight and having too much money might be a reason that’ll never happen!

[toolbar]

Originally Posted by kristjan

currently is Galv wire that was soaked in epoxy and painted with some sort of two part.

I would be afraid of epoxied and painted wire shrouds. There is no way to check what is going on inside.

Following ISAF regulations lifelines need to be uncoated for that reason (but then, they don't allow dyneema lifelines anymore...)

Paul

[SailRedemption]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I intend to go that way late next year.

From my research creep is a bit of a variable. Current trends seem to be to over spec the dyneema to about 3 to 5 times the required strength to reduce creep. That makes the dyneema significantly larger in diameter which has the down side of increasing drag.

I believe the creep issue will be better controlled with development of the material because it is theoretically possible to use narrower dyneema for the required strength.

If the makers can develop it so it will reduce drag that will be a significant issue resolved and increase sales so there is a great deal of motivation.

I don't think retentioning the rigging is much of an issue so I will go with rigging on the narrow side. You can buy it pre stretched now but that doesn't mean it won't stretch, just that it will stretch less.

I expect a lot to change between now and then.

The weight reduction aloft allowing less heel will outweigh any negatives from the slight increase in drag. Most cruising boats have so much stuff on deck and along rails (not to mention dodgers, biminis, arches, etc) that shroud diameter is trivial.

That said we have all Colligo for our boat. Only thing that's SS is our two head sails which are furler. If you have hanks, dyneema will be fine as long as your hanks aren't jacked up on the inside. A good bit of cruisers are using this with hanks especially those with Solent stays or removable staysails.

Creep isn't an issue if you size your dyneema for creep not strength. The only thing we have to worry about is temp/season changes as dyneema has inverse changes to aluminum for temps. In the winter the dyneema gets longer and the mast gets shorter, the opposite in the summer. We tension for the in-between.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by toolbar

I would be afraid of epoxied and painted wire shrouds. There is no way to check what is going on inside.

Following ISAF regulations lifelines need to be uncoated for that reason (but then, they don't allow dyneema lifelines anymore...)

Paul

I think the galvanised wire will tell him when things start to go wrong. A bit of epoxy isn't going to stop rust breaking out.

The ISAF thing is for stainless steel life lines and quite rightly they shouldn't be covered. I replaced mine for this very reason this year.

Pete