This could be an issue if you have the "T" type terminals on your
rigging?
As a Flotilla
skipper many (many) years ago I had a fleet
mast come down under sail in the
Greek Islands.
I recovered the
mast and on
inspection saw the lower
shroud "T Bar" had snapped off. I inspected the rest of the fleet, and discovered more Port lowers with hairline cracks on the "T" terminals.
The fleet had been operating the previous year on a "training area"
route where the winds were very light so the boats had been motored a lot. The fleet had also had new
tanks installed on the starboard amidships. This had caused the boats to heel slightly to starboard, putting tension in the port lowers.
Under
engine the port lowers "hummed".
We could only presume the harline cracks were the result of these terminals doing x years more
work than the rest of the
rigging.
NB. The story of the mast coming down & subsequent recovery is fun but not relevant to this thread...