noisy stays

[monte]

Hi, our new Lagoon 400 has plastic sidestay sheilds. They are oversized for the stay and wobble a bit as there is about 8mm clearance between the stay and the plastic tubing. It only takes about 10knots of wind to get them rattling and below it sounds like a truck is driving over the deck.
I tried tensioning the stay by tying a sheet to it and pulling it sideways but it doesn't help. Has anyone come across this problem and has a decent solution?
Im thinking my options are drill a hole in the plastic every meter and squirting in some silicone or try pour something in from the top.
Any bright ideas appreciated
Monte

[Factor]

The trouble with squirting stuff in is that you may actually increase the propensity for corrosion issues by trapping moisture. Try contacting a local rigger or the spar manufacturer for the boat.

[2Wind]

These eventually age, become brittle and fracture, making for sharp edges that catch clothing etc. In this condition, I got rid of them and am no worse off without them.

[monte]

thanks, i just went up the stay and drilled a 5mm hole every 2m and squrted a good glob of black sikaflex into each hole. You cant see the holes and the stay seems less noisy but we will see next time the wind blows. If it doesnt fix it I'll put more holes at 1m spacings. 30 min job, hopefully resolved it. p.S. I wrapped tape around the drill bit 5mm from the tip so it had no chance of contacting the stay, also sealed the top of the tubing to prevent water ingress

[monte]

PPS. still noisy ! will add more sika tomorrow..

[Tayana42]

Monte! Have you thought about the mess you will have cleaning the Sikaflex up from your rigging, turnbuckle and deck when you realize it isn't solving the problem and that removing the plastic tubes is the best answer?


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[Ozbullwinkle]

This Sika "solution" doesn't seem like the way to go to me but you have already done it now. The thought of black Sika all over the shrouds sounds bad to me. I would have just put a smaller diameter sheathing on them and you could use a split type which would be easier to put on.

[monte]

Thanks guys, yes I had considered the cleanup possibility, but decided to try keep the protective covers as the best option. We had the same covers on our L380 and there was no noise, I think the fit was closer to a 2mm gap so that would explain it. The covers showed no sign of deterioration after 2 years. Occasionally the mainsail touches the shrouds to I guess they are for chafe prevention in that case. Possibly yhe best option would have been to remove them. I think it would be easy enough, just cut a slice from the bottom vertically, tie a line to the piece once its cut 300mm or so then use a winch to tear it off.

[carstenb]

Be easier to remove the plastic, wrap self-amalgamating tape around the stay to the same diameter as the plastic. That will stop the noise, but you'll still have the problem of moisture

[Jim Cate]

Monte, have you perchance noticed the hundreds, nay, thousands of yachts around you that have bare shrouds? The majority of those have some contact between sails and wires, and those sails seem to survive just fine. And the shrouds don't have the deoxygenated water corrosion worries to consider.

In your place, I would surely remove the offending covers and start trying to clean up the mess that you have created.

Jim

[monte]

Thanks Jim, agreed most yacht stays are naked, but I think almost all catamaran stays have the covers. Why? maybe the swept back stays are more likely to come in contact with the mainsail, or maybe the fully battened sails are more likely to chafe. Lagoon recommends only allowing one batten to touch the stay and we stick to that, running downwind the 3rd top batten just touches when the boom is at 45 degrees. If we let the boom out the batten will distort into an S shape. If I were to remove the covers, the sikaflex would come off in 20 minutes using a guitar string to cut it so its not a big deal. As I said I sealed the top, so I can't imagine trapping moisture inside being an issue. I am still considering removing the covers though...

[monte]

some perspective on the sidestay, I noticed when I lifted the protective cover on the side I havent done, about 1l of water flowed out. It was blocked by the cover/turnbuckle connection. I also notice where the shroud enters the turnbuckle, there is a 2mm gap all around which is full of water. This is probably the most important area to avoid corrosion as it cant be inspected.
I managed to lift the other cover an inch or so, even though it has the sikaflex and noted it is dry there.
You can see in the pictures the space between the cover and the stay, and also the space and water inside the turnbuckle.

[belizesailor]

Oh man, pumping Sika in there and trapping moisture and gunk next to stainless is a bad idea.

A diameter that seals on the swage and traps water, as you've discovered, is also a very bad idea.

I suggest either just removing the covers (esp now that you've pumped sika in there) or replacing with a smaller diameter tubing. Semi rigid PVC tubing from a hardware store works just fine (slit it and slide it on).

Stainess wire in good condition is not going to damage your sails/running rugging anyway (normal chafe aside) so just taking the covers off is a better solution than creating a corrosion problem.

[Kiwikat]

We have the same plastic coverings on our Bahia. I think in our case it greatly protects the genoa sheets from chafing through on certain points of sail. We discussed it with our rigger a couple of years ago and he recommended leaving them on as he received more requests to put them on rather than remove them.

So we just learn to live with it.......(maybe an extra glass of port before going to bed )

Cheers
Lisa

[belizesailor]

I have seen them rigged with a large stainless washer between the swage and the cover, to prevent the cover from sealing over the swage, but of course retrofiting that would be a pain.