SS Rigging replacement

[Clipper 343]

Questions on behalf of my old man...

 

Do people actually replace their ss rigging every 10 years?

 

Does anyone know the cost of replacing the rigging on a challenge 29? Basically the same rig as a y88 I understand.

 

Or can suggest a friendly rigger to give an estimate?

[B00B00 310]

I think only rod rigging needs to be replaced every 10 years.

[S+S24 0]

Got my rig checked a couple of months ago. Six swages had cracks in them, but no loose strands in the wire. My rod forestay passed visual. Well worth getting done.

 

Ended up replacing all the stays (including the rod stuff) with the help of Northland Spars and took the opportunity to replace old nav lights, cabling and VHF antennae while mast was down.

 

All my stays and wiring were last done in 1991 I believe. So well overdue.

[possum 0]

There is tremendous peace of mind in renewing your standing rigging, after all it is suffering fatique 24/7 as each small movement loads and unloads the rig. However be sure to quiz your friendly rigger. For example we had our rig comprehensively renewed only to find a year later that the Sea Rig Rigging Screws used were implicated in a number of rig failures. No offer from the manufacturer to replace these fittings has been forth coming.

 

The advance of electronic and lighting systems makes this a great opportunity to re wire your mast and upgrade your nav lights to purpose made LEDs. All projects thoroughly worth doing.

[Marshy 30]

It is often required by insurance to replace rigging after 10 years. Alot can happen in 10 years, and the stainless is pretty rooted after that long.

 

We have of course pulled stays off old 1020's and townsons that were originals and closer to 20 years old. But if it were my boat i wouldnt leave them that long. Nor would i wait for a strand to snap before replacing them. The scarey thing with wire is that its what you cant see that is the issue. Dirt and all sorts of other nasty's from the water and air get into the strands of the wire and cause surface rust, and the reality is the wire normally rusts from the inside out, so by the time you see the staining on the outside its normally bad on the inside. We used to cut old stays once we replaced them and some were pretty shot in the core, but looked not too bad on the outside. Cracked Swages are another common occurance after that long, where someone has used the wrong tool when tuning the rig and the spanner flats have been damaged, and the swages crack from the top down.

 

Forestays inside furlers i would replace more often than 10 years too, the furlers hold alot of dirt and grease, and also wear out the forestays, i have had to rebuild more than one furler from forestay's breaking, and even seen a few masts come down from it.

 

Its one of those things that seems scarey and alot of money to do but really every 10 years you are talking about spending $1500 on new rigging, to hold the mast up? Whats a new mast worth? A furler? And what are the sails you hang off it worth? Its pretty cheap insurance really. $150 a year to make sure the mast stays safely pointing skyward...

[Steve Pope 243]

Check with your insurer/broker as to the time span acceptable to them re replacement. There are annecdotes of times ranging from 10 years, 15 years, to individual cases.

I have recently seen some old SS rigging that was just starting to strand that was fitted back in the late 1970's. I've heard of more recent SS stays lasting only 2 years (from the owner)

[Island Time 1,233]

if the budget is the issue, take the stays off one at a time, and have a rigger make new ones. I found this was much cheaper than asking a rigger for a replacement cost....

[rigger 47]

If you can take the rigging off bit by bit and take them in to a rigger it will save you a heap.

 

The $1500 that Marshy said seems good to me, my little boat cost me about that and I did most of the fitting myself.

 

34ft deck stepped mast - masthead rig.

 

If out Westpark way you could try Steve McCabe if he is still there - Coastal Rover on A Pier

[Island Time 1,233]

Rigger, what do you think of the Norsemann type fittings. I've considered changing everything to this type for the next re-rig, as I can do it myself. While in a remote location I lost a baby stay, and had to make a spectra temp one, which I could not get tight enough. I had spare stays on board - but not the right one! If I's had some norsemann fittings I could have made a real stay! Made me consider using them everywhere. Opinions people?

[Guest]

The general rule of thumb some tend to use is replace every 10 years. That's probably knot too bad.

 

I was going to suss and reuse my rod rigging but when one failed as we were trying to get it undone to get the rig off the boat all is now being replaced. It failed 10-12mm down into a swage, the rod itself snapped and on close inspection the swage was corroding from the inside outwards hence we have no idea what the rest are like hence the full replacement now.

 

One hassle we are seeing and will have a big impact into lifespans is the quality and grades of the wire being used. 15 years ago it was all high grade high strength as that's just what everyone did. These days a lot of the wire coming in is lower grades, which often is perfectly fine for most applications but in some maybe knot so. Also a loot is being sold as EU made when in fact it's eastern made, which isn't always a bad thing but sometimes it is.

 

I like and have used Norseman fittings. They were the genuine item and Norseman has been around for a long long time so I'd trust them. Knot too sure about some of the clones though but that comment is from little knowledge of those ones specifically. I know of a couple of longer term offshore cruisers who's entire rigs are hanging off Norsemen and they are fine with it.

 

But like you I'm taking a couple of lengths of dyneema as spare shrouds. Will tension via block n tackle or back to a winch if I need a lot.

[Battgirl 23]

Steve McCabe 0220917379

Awesome to deal with, gives very practical down to earth advice with a fantastic and cost sensitive attitude .

Hauled the rig last year expecting to replace the 17 year old ss 19x1 stays. Steve arranged to do it the most cost effective way showed me how I would know the signs of the stays needing replacement, given the sailing I am doing and there was no such thing as a stupid question.

[rigger 47]

Rigger, what do you think of the Norsemann type fittings. I've considered changing everything to this type for the next re-rig, as I can do it myself. While in a remote location I lost a baby stay, and had to make a spectra temp one, which I could not get tight enough. I had spare stays on board - but not the right one! If I's had some norsemann fittings I could have made a real stay! Made me consider using them everywhere. Opinions people?

 

I'd refer to a rigger that uses them.

 

The name rigger comes from square rigged rigging (which is were I did most of the rigging) and the offshore - I suggested Steve as he is way better with the yacht rigging than I am.

 

Those fittings look pretty good to me - but check with someone that has experience with them

[Steve Pope 243]

locally made non swage KZ marine Rigging fittings are a good locally made Norseman type fitting, possibly even superior.

[Kestrahl 6]

Replaced the rigging on the D35 which was apparently original at 26 years old. One of the lowers had 3 broken strands otherwise all looked okay. The old owner sprayed crc into the tops of the swages if that makes any difference I dunno. Tried to find out though Cookes if there were different grades of S/S wire and was told it all comes from the same place. Used swageturn swages and rigging screws for the new stuff.

[wheels 543]

Err...ummm....about what I would expect as an answer from Cookes lately. Sadly. But there is most certainly different makers of SST wire around the world. In saying that though, Bridon (cookes) does make their own wire.

nzrat and KM would be able to tell you more in regards to what's from where.

[Guest]

This is interesting....http://www.colligomarine.com/products/c ... ic-systems

[wheels 543]

The biggest issue with SST is that it can look just fine up untill the day it fails. And that is why the "10 yr" thing came into being. On average, 10yrs is a good average and from the on, the older it becomes, the more the average shifts toward failure. But I also know of rigging that is 20+yrs old.

I guess it is because of the "shiney bling" that SST is used, but I don't know why Galv is not used more. It can last a lifetime if looked after.

Synthetic just doesn't have the life of SST and please note that even the rigging in that colligo link is every untested..... "waiting for more info to come in".

[Guest]

Even if its twice as strong Wheels? Way less weight? The durability is only a problem in the tropics due to UV exposure and even then its good for 8 years and possibly longer. You can also do it yourself. So why not do one stay every 3 months or so wait 7 years and then go round again. Weight aloft reduces considerably and twice as strong and lasts as long. What else do you want? You could take a stay off say in 7 years time and test it to see how they all are holding up to UV. Apart from the UV any other problem is obvious from fraying unlike stainless.

 

Weight aloft is good for your stability however so tread lightly here.

[wheels 543]

There are advantages for those wanting performance, but it is still expensive for those wanting longevity. 5 to 8yrs is not long.

[RedLine 0]

IVe re-rigged two of my own boats using norseman and stay-lok terminals.

Got the rigger to make up the stays with swaged fittings on the top, and cut the stays over-length, then use the norseman terminals on the deck end of things. Did them one at a time, and was pretty easy, usually add a blob of silicone to them to keep the water out of the Norseman. Sailed the boat from UK to NZ afterwards and didn't have a problem. Would recommend them. Some insurance companies req new rigging every 7 years.