CRUISING Have you ever been Fracture to ‘T’ stainless is an unstable mixture involved in an accident. terminal backing dismasted? plate and/or of mild steel and chromium, To add to our worries, work wall We can all learn from one the outer surface of which reacts hardening can be accelerated another, so why not share with oxygen in the atmosphere by the aforementioned crevice your experiences with other to form a protective layer of corrosion – as well as our final readers? Contact us initially chromium oxide. Without adversary, the galvanic action at letters@sailingtoday. oxygen that reaction simply of dissimilar metals. Zinc has co.uk We look forward to won’t take place, leaving the a particularly vicious reaction hearing from you. metal vulnerable to attack. The with stainless – which is why Fig 1 easiest way to displace oxygen, you should never attach it One reason for and encourage corrosion at to a galvanised – but going aloft or the same time, is to introduce aluminium is unfriendly too. unstepping the water, particularly salt water, Which, bearing in mind that mast is so you can which may simply nestle most of us have alloy masts these take a close look at into the strands of the wire. days, seems somewhat unfair. the T-terminals. This combination of oxygen The trick is to avoid direct starvation and crevice corrosion contact wherever possible. is extremely powerful and may also be found wherever stainless Old ways best? wire is concealed – behind a Having listed this brief, roller or inside a fitting but disturbing catalogue of Check for cracks – or merely on any convenient potential problems, it’s perhaps to root spot where droplets can gather understandable that some purists – where a wire enters a terminal favour good old fashioned for example. Simply washing galvanised rigging. Sure, size for your rigging in fresh warm water size the stuff’s not as strong, so to remove the salt at the end it needs to be a bigger diameter, Fig 1 of each season, then drying it but at least it provides clear, Check for excessive play Because stainless corrodes thoroughly and storing it indoors visible warnings before it breaks, in spreaders, which may from the inside out, close will help extend its life. It also giving you an obvious sign it’s mean that the holes have worn oval inspection is essential. pays to take stainless fittings in trouble. When galvanised apart, wherever practicable, to wire loses its coating of zinc, it Fig 2 see what’s going on inside and first darkens, then rusts, then Don’t forget hidden from view. finally breaks down altogether. to check the A further life threatening Even before you spot the telltale spreaders as well problem for stainless wire is signs of degradation, however, as the work hardening, which is really you should periodically open up for wear and tear. just another way of describing some of the strands to see what’s the general ageing process, which going on inside. can be accelerated by vibration The real snag is the upkeep.

fatigue. Your standing Check for play at the rigging is constantly being gooseneck and make sure fittings are pulled and stretched and, securely screwed or even worse, where it’s held riveted in the vice-like grip of a terminal, twanged back How safe is your mast? and forth. The ultimate result is the breakdown of individual strands of wire, which, though broken, may not stick They may seem OK, but the shiny-looking wires that hold your out in an obvious way, talked to the experts. but cunningly remain mast up could be dangerously inadequateRodger Witt or harbouring hidden in place. Hence the all part of the fun, even if it Stainless rod rigging is another need for extremely close left unsightly stains on option, which, at first sight, inspection. Again, areas and emitted pungent vapours seems highly attractive. It’s weaknesses. To find out more, around terminal fittings or attracted the odd fly or undoubtedly stronger, which ever pick a fight with a at the very least, will stand us in example. What on earth could are the obvious places two. These days, however, means it doesn’t have to be so rigger, because riggers good stead and may even prevent go wrong with them? Plenty, to start looking. As you even earthy creatures with thick, which, in turn helps keep Nare tough. They also a major disaster. I’m afraid. For a start, even the might expect, a broken the most basic instincts the weight and windage down. understand physics, as well as Essentially, riggers are the way best quality marine grade 316 strand or strands dictates will find this too much to It’s also smooth and shiny and three-dimensional geometry, can they are because they know that stainless steel wire can suddenly instant replacement; the stomach. There’s another easy to clean – so there are fewer work out difficult sums in their if things can go wrong they will fail without warning. For that really unpalatable aspect drawback too: unless your places for water to hide – and heads and do clever things with and that in the end, everything reason, insurers usually insist to all this is that there’s no boat has a traditional timber less stretchy that conventional twine, which keeps them one has a life and nothing lasts you renew your standing rigging obvious way to determine , as we’ve seen already, wire. The snag is its much step ahead. forever. That’s why they aren’t every 10 years or so. when a strand may be aluminium alloy and zinc are higher cost and the fact that you In short, these guys are smart afraid to ask awkward questions To make that job easier, on just about to break. Even best kept apart. One other have to be ultra careful to keep and multi-talented, so we should and are always looking for the Continent, some riggers fancy ultrasonic or X-ray thought: galvanised forestays it absolutely straight to avoid treat them with respect and listen trouble (in a purely professional stamp the date on their swaged tests will only tell you when In the old days, greasing are particularly prone to wear if kinks, which can both encourage to what they have to say. capacity of ). We should end fittings so you know when it’s already happened – though, the rigging with regular and your headsails have old fashioned crevice corrosion and seriously By watching the way they adopt a similar approach. the stay was assembled. I concede, that may be worth distasteful concoctions, which piston hanks that can quickly weaken it. Apart from anything work, we can also, perhaps, gain Let’s start with the obvious: The reasons for such caution knowing, particularly on newish could well include pig’s fat, rub away the zinc coating – but else that involves the use of a little of their insight, which, those nice, shiny shrouds, for are pretty straightforward. First, rigging that may have been linseed oil and/or varnish, was chafe in general is bad news. specialised terminals. Rod rigging

86 Sailing Today November 08 November 08 Sailing Today 87 CRUISING RIGGING

higher up, where the wire meets makes sense to attach them to the mast. toggles at both ends – to allow To confuse you further, some movement in two planes. 20 top tipS riggers use a hand tool called a Even so, it’s worth making 1. Remove your mast every 11. Take components apart You can’t leave anything to chance. roll-swager, which can produce sure that chainplates and U- three or four years. After fitting for inspection, if they can be That’s why professional riggers a perfectly acceptable result bolts are aligned with the angle new rigging, carry out a visual stripped down easily, clean with insist on examining every single – but only on wires up to about of the shroud or stay, so all the check for the first three years white spirit, then regrease. component. ¼in diameter. You can usually tension comes in a straight line. then commission a professional spot a roll swage by looking Even a slight angle can cause for an annual inspection. 12. Check mast backing plates for the two, telltale raised flash problems. With that in mind, around shroud attachments and lines on either side of the end you should also find out exactly 2. Clean out plastic bottle screw T-terminals. fitting. Some operators make how U-bolts are anchored. Some covers and protective fittings the mistake of ‘rolling’ the go down onto bulkheads, others every year. 13. Don’t forget to examine the fitting several times to get a nice are joined to tie rods, which, in mast step for corrosion. Before smooth finish, but, as before, turn, may be attached to plates 3. Never use crimped-on removal, use a straight edge to that runs the risk of weakening bonded onto the topsides. But end fittings. Apart from highlight any for and aft distortion the structure and encouraging unless all the loads have been anything else, 1x19 wire was loads caused by the rigging. cracks sometimes even after just adequately catered for, after never designed to go round a couple of years of use. time, things can, and will, come sharp corners. 14. Check your spreaders. The The final system is arguably adrift. In some cases, before that shroud should bisect them at the best of the lot. Swageless happens, you might see bumps 4. Always fit toggles to your equal angles. If the spreader fittings, which use a cone or or distortions in the relevant turnbuckles so they articulate droops, it can fail and you can wedge that jams everything trouble spots – in the deck or on towards the angle of pull. Fit two, easily lose your mast. up tight, can be assembled or the topsides, for example. At the top and bottom on the disassembled fairly easy – which very least, misaligned loads will to give 360° movement. It’s means you can fit them yourself accelerate wear on the wire and especially important where furling When or take them apart for cleaning may even induce kinks that can gear is fitted. fittings get or maintenance – with nothing seriously weaken it. distorted more than a couple of spanners. 5. Use split pins (never rings) to they need Swageless fittings, made by Look aloft secure closed turnbuckle barrels replacing. Norseman or Sta-lok are also Problems can arise at the other unless they rely on locknuts. immensely strong, stronger even end too. T-terminals, which may (Some riggers use both locknuts than swaged terminals, which, be used to attach the shrouds to and split pins on the forestay in my book, makes them almost the mast, are ideal candidates for just to be safe, though, with irresistible. crevice corrosion chrome/bronze bottlescrews split You can and, ultimately, pins alone, rather than locknuts expect them cracks. For that are recommended). Open bodied to last longer reason, some turnbuckles also need split pins than the wire, professionals on the threads. In either case, also tends to work harden more for that reason, called new wire is used, because but experts prefer to fit more make sure the pins themselves easily. On the other hand, as Dyform. It has an even any deposits can act as a recommend conventional are inserted from the outside in technology improves, these tighter lay-up than 1x19, barrier, preventing the ferrule you renew the tang attachments, and then taped over to prevent drawbacks are becoming less making it stronger and from getting thoroughly cone in the partly because them snagging sheets or sails. obvious, so, while rod rigging less stretchy, so in some squeezed into the individual middle every it’s easier to see 15. Take the spreader ends was once almost exclusively cases you might get away strands. Even then, crimped time you what’s going on. 6. Make sure chainplates apart to check for corrosion and found on racing boats, it’s with a smaller diameter, terminals such as these, change the Naturally, though, are aligned with the pull of make sure they’re attached to gradually finding favour with reducing windage have no place as part of the rigging. when fixing the rigging. the shroud. When reassembling, cruising skippers too. and weight, though standing rigging on any The next stainless fittings use a touch of silicone on the For most of us, however, the for cruising skippers decent boat and are vastly important to alloy masts 7. Closed turnbuckles are less shank of the bolt. standing rigging of choice is that’s less of a priority inferior to proper rotary- components it’s vital to guard easy to inspect, so pack them 1x19 stainless, which as the and its advantages Even when your boat’s not actually swages, which are made on are your with lubricant every year. Use 16. Spreaders are also designed name suggests, consists of 19 are outweighed by its sailing, the effect of the wind on the highly expensive machines. turnbuckles white spirit to clean off the to maintain a reasonable angle of strands of wire twisted together considerably higher cost. rigging can encourage vibration fatigue, Here, using hydraulics, the or rigging Corrosion may go undetected excess, which could otherwise pull where the shroud meets the to make a single unified Our next priority is which is why it’s worth getting a fitting is held between two screws. At beneath shroud protectors. stain your sails. mast. Anything less than about component. It’s simple, strong attaching the rigging professional inspection. split dies, which bang away their simplest 10° is asking for trouble. and relatively inexpensive. Fine to the boat and the at it with an interference-fit they divide into two types, open- 8. With open turnbuckles, make for keeping your mast up, it mast, which, in turn, rolling hammer. The force bodied types – which should be sure there’s some thread visible 17. Check for white powder and prefers to be kept straight, which brings us to the subject of end that is sometimes used loosely they exert is simply awesome, wired to prevent them undoing to allow subsequent adjustment pockmarks on the mast. is why as a rule you won’t find fittings. Old timers like the idea – and inaccurately – to include so, as you might imagine, there’s themselves – and closed or barrel – particularly important when you it wrapped round blocks or used of splicing the ends, because it crimped Talurit or Nicopress always a slight risk of overdoing types that are usually fitted with want to slacken them off to step 18. Replace bedding for . The obvious distributes the loads more evenly. collars or ferrules, which have it – in which case the fitting locknuts. In either case, it’s the mast. compounds such as zinc choice here is for 7x19 stainless, In reality, splicing a piece of two holes and can be squeezed could potentially be weakened important not to over tighten chromate paste between fittings which is made up of seven 1x19 stainless is a difficult and onto the end of a piece of wire and subsequently develop cracks. them or adjust them too often 9. Inspect fittings for corrosion every three or four years. wires each of which contains 19 time consuming operation that with a big, macho hand tool The other point already made, when they’re under load, because and cracks. strands. More strands simply few can manage and even fewer that looks like a huge pair of but worth repeating, is the way that may cause unnecessary 19. Examine welds and rivets on make it more flexible. are prepared to pay for. Also, nutcrackers. Copper ferrules and they produce hard edges where wear, particularly on the threads. 10. Look for rust stains and mast and . while it undoubtedly eliminates stainless thimbles are used on the wire enters, leaving places for In any case, the experts advise broken strands of wire, especially Made in a die obvious hard spots, it’s a sad stainless wires, while galvanised moisture to lodge. That’s more replacing rigging screws roughly where they emerge from swaged 20. Replace your rigging every There’s one other obvious fact of life that other alternatives wires use aluminium ferrules likely to happen at the lower every six years or so, just to be or mechanical terminals. (See 10 years or so. (Check required contender for standing rigging. are stronger. The most popular and galvanised thimbles. It’s end, near the water, which is safe. To reduce the damaging picture on following page.) frequency with your insurers.) It’s pulled through a die and, method is swaging, a term important to make sure that only why some people only use them effects of vibration fatigue it also

88 Sailing Today November 08 November 08 Sailing Today 89 CRUISING

IS YOUR RIG SET UP CORRECTLY?

Mark the settings on your assuming your boat has a masthead In real life, different boats have the mast aft to tighten the forestay turnbuckles or rigging screws at rig, go sailing in a decent breeze different characteristics and riggers on a beat, if you forget to release the end of the season so you can and make sure the windward shroud have different ideas about what it off the wind, there’s a real risk of achieve roughly the same tension is tight enough to keep the mast constitutes the ‘right’ amount of snapping the top of the mast. As a when you set them up in the spring. straight when she’s hard on the wind. tension. At the end of the day, However, remember that even wire it’s largely a matter of trial stretches, so you’ll need to check If the leeward shroud is obviously and error. Checking the them again. slack and doing no work at all, wires for tension. tighten it until you feel some Fractional rigs are more ‘highly On the moorings start by checking resistance, then go about and check strung’ and demand even more the shortest wires – normally the the other side. care. For a start, the after lower lower shrouds – to make sure they’re shrouds must generally be wound taut, and progress to the longest If the mast is bent over to leeward, up between three and five times ones. The idea at this stage is simply start by reducing the tension in the as tightly as the forestay. That’s to keep the mast straight and well lowers to see if that helps before because, even with swept-back supported, so have a look from every tightening the cap shrouds again. spreaders, the angle of pull is angle. You can even lie on your back usually so acute. and sight up the mast track. Unless you know that your boat This, in turn, puts the rigging sails best with a certain amount of wire under greater stress, which Final tuning may be best left to an rake, adjust forestays and backstays may shorten its life. The same expert, but, again, at its simplest, in to keep the mast as straight as applies to the lower shrouds, most cases, you’re merely trying to possible and minimise headsail luff which have to counteract the rule, therefore, tweakable rigs like keep the mast in a straight line and sag. On a typical 30-footer, about 6in resultant forward thrust. There’s these may be fine if you want to take up the stretch in the wire. To of play in the forestay is about right another potential drawback. Having performance, but are less suited to get some idea of what’s going on, when you’re sailing to windward. tensioned the and bent the rigours of long distance cruising.

against the possibility of the chance to look for signs against crevice corrosion with galvanic corrosion by using a of rust, cracks, corroded beeswax. Otherwise, it makes barrier of zinc chromate paste fittings or broken strands. sense to treat the threads of your where the two surfaces would It’s a really good idea to turnbuckles with a dry lubricant otherwise come into contact use a magnifying glass for that contains Molybdenum with each other. this sort of work, though Disulphide, and use a self- there’s no substitute for amalgamating tape to prevent Take it down a thorough professional chafe. After that, it’s a matter of What else can we do to make inspection at some stage, getting used to making regular sure nothing goes wrong? Well, which might well include a and frequent checks whenever for a start, it makes sense to die penetration test to assess you get the chance. remove the mast and rigging the internal condition of As I said at the start, the price every few years when the boat’s your swages. of security is eternal vigilance. ■ laid up ashore. Just because your As further insurance boat’s no longer in commission you should coat your With special thanks to the rigging doesn’t mean it’s not being fittings with a lanolin- experts at XW Rigging Ltd whose subjected to wear and tear. The Stainless is most based waterproof grease helpful advice and practical insight effect of the wind in your rigging likely to fail where – particularly where was absolutely invaluable. can accelerate fatigue, which it emerges from a dissimilar metals are Haslar Marina, Gosport, Hants does it no good at all. Taking swaged fitting. involved. Some riggers T. 023 9251 3553 your mast down also gives you recommend protecting E. [email protected]

Dick Jobbins Riggers TS Rigging Barton on Sea, Hants Maldon, Essex USEFUL CONTACTS T: 01590 614562 T: 01621 874861 A2 Rigging Atlantic Spars & Rigging Eurospars tsrigging.co.uk Falmouth, Cornwall Brixham, Devon Plymouth, Devon Mylor Chandlery & Rigging T: 01326 312209 T: 01803 843322 T: 01752 550550 Falmouth, Cornwall The Rig Shop [email protected] spars.co.uk [email protected] T: 01326 375482 Northam, Southampton mylorchandlery.co.uk T: 023 80338341 Aladdins Cave Bay Rigging Fairlie Riggers rigshop.com Chandlery Galmpton, Devon Fairlie, Ayrshire Ocean Yacht Systems UK Southampton, Hants T: 01803 846333 T: 07984 060846 Bournemouth, Dorset Yacht Rigging Services T: 01489 555908 totalyachtsolutions.co.uk [email protected] T: 01202 596600 Mayflower Marina, Plymouth aladdinscave.co.uk oceanyachtsystems.co.uk T: 01752 561333 CR Yacht Rigging Grimsby Rigging Services Allspars Plymouth, Devon (UK) Spencer Rigging Rig Magic Plymouth, Devon T: 01752 228724 Grimsby, Cowes, Isle of Wight Suffolk Yacht Harbour T: 01752 266766 info.cryachtrigging@tiscali. S Humberside T: 01983 292022 T: 01473 655089 allspars.co.uk co.uk T: 01472 362758 spencerrigging.co.uk rigmagic.co.uk

90 Sailing Today November 08