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OEM Standing Rigging ?

Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:11 am
by DizzyG78
One of the next projects I'm considering is the standing rigging on Lady Anne.

During the initial re-fit, I inspected the OEM rig and naively rated it "good enough" to save the time/cost/hassle of replacement at that point. Four months "wet" on, I'm now taking a longer, more educated look at my rig, and frankly, living in terror of dismasting.

Some background: The rig looks like OEM; turnbuckle bodies are very frail (comparatively) and the adjustment nuts appear to be made of some kind of weak alloy that has seized onto the threaded ends of the shrouds...making tuning nearly impossible. The forestay looks solid, but the split backstay has minor "kinks" I missed on my less-than-adequate initial inspection. Chainplates all look "bulletproof"; I say this because the shroud plates have no "wallows" in the holes, and are fixed interior with a 12" piece of 1/4" metal, set by four bolts. The backstay plates seem "ok".

Last week, one my slipmates, a 25' Beneteau, lost his rig in high winds while tied up pier-side. Looks like his jib (on furler) got loose, and the constant whipping caused the forestay to sheer at the fitting.To be fair, this boat looked like it hadn't been seen by the owner in a while.

Never the less, this event not only "woke me up" to rigging damage, and has me wondering how strong my rig really is.

During last year's refit, I modified my mast by fabricating a steel "hinge"; the top end of which is bolted to the mast by way of two steel "arms" that go from the hinge body to about four inches up each side of the mast and bolt through. The lower hinge body is screwed to the step using the same six screw configuration as OEM. This way, if the rigging fails, the mast won't take the whole deck up as it goes, but when raising/lowering, I have little risk of the hinge breaking loose from the mast (one time was enough).

I've made inquiries, and it seems I have two options: First, the closest rigger is in Chattanooga...a day or two's transit down river, and can do the job for under $2,000, including haul-out. Second, I can lower the mast and remove the rigging myself, and send off to a variety of reputable riggers, receiving new kit in about a week or two for under $500.

Here's my problem...taking Lady Anne all the way down to 'Nooga via the locks is a logistical issue not to be taken lightly. While I'd love having a "pro" do it all, there are added costs/risk associated, beyond the relatively high cost of the repair. As to removing/sending off...this involves getting the boat out on the hard months before planned, lowering the mast (something I don't care to do solo), then leaving it on the trailer at the marina for the three to four weeks needed to do the repair...all in the mid-early winter.

Here are my questions...Am I being overly-cautious/pessimistic about my rig? Has anyone experienced "unexpected" failure under light winds outside of a racing environment with OEM rigging? Given the high difference in cost, am I simply chasing quarters with dollars to send off the rig vs. the trek downstream? Does anyone in the Watts Bar lake area know of someone who can do this (Blue Springs stated they cannot)?

Many Thanks,

Dizzy

Re: OEM Standing Rigging ?

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 9:06 am
by C22Bob
Joshua,

I haven't heard of anyone on this board having lost their rigging unexpectedly. On replacing, I'm the kind of person that enjoys DIY, so I would never consider paying $$$ to do what I can do, except of course I do pay for swaging. Measuring can be tricky in some cases. I just finished with all new standing rigging and for less than $500 at riggingonly.com. I had to go through several ups and downs with the mast to get everything like I wanted, but it was worth it. Solo masting with the right setup isn't difficult. Most everybody here follows the Chrysler factory method with some variations on using hand winch, or electric, etc...I personally use the factory method with bridles on the toe rails, boom as gin pole, 3:1 tackle running back into the cockpit. Standing there I use my Harken deck winch to crank her up.

My only complaint on Chrysler rigging design are the aft stays at the transom. Not nearly reinforced to my satisfaction. That's an area I would definitely reinforce. There is a backing plate inside the transom...1/4" clear acrylic plastic sheet :(
(Chrysler used that for backing plates in a lot of places for which I've replaced with 1/4" aluminum sheet).

Re-engineering all that is tough because you don't have a lot of room to work, and you're doing it blind on the inside. Some pics on C22s you'll see where they've cut a 4' hole there (both sides) and attached plastic deck plates. Obviously doing so to get access inside. I chose to not drill 4" holes. My design replaced the plastic backing plate with 1/4" aluminum right-angle bracket on the inside (you only have about an inch of space in there) AND I machined a threaded bolt hole on the vertical part of the bracket which is at the exact place for the metal rail that runs horizontally on the transom. When done, the aft stay has 2 1/4" SS bolts holding it down AND another 1/4" SS bolt attached to the horizontal aluminum transom rail (nicely hidden too by the rubber trim). That rail is held in place by 7 or 8 screws which in that area is fairly thick.
For engineering , think of it like this,...If the force is so great to pull the stay up out of the transom, it will also have to tear away the entire aluminum rail at the same time!! Having those stays also attached mechanically to that rail is piece of mind brother :)

Bob

Re: OEM Standing Rigging ?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:55 pm
by astrorad
In 2011 I put up my mast and adjusted the rigging properly. I then took the mast down and removed the standing rigging, marking each piece and coiling them up. I called Seco South in Largo, Florida. They instructed me to ship the old rigging to them. I shipped it UPS...don't remember the cost but it wasn't outrageous. They made a new set of standing rigging in a short time and it was way better than the OEM. Total cost for the rigging was $412.85...that included shipping and they also returned the old rigging in the same box.
Seco South phone (727) 536-1924

Re: OEM Standing Rigging ?

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:40 pm
by DizzyG78
Thank you gents!

I was wondering about those aft stays...certainly doesn't look all that strong from the outside; to learn all that's INSIDE is plastic...YIKES!

The info on Seco is spot on; what would you say their turn-around time (from receipt of the old) was?

Re: OEM Standing Rigging ?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 6:56 pm
by astrorad
I really don't remember the turnaround time. Just give them a call and ask, they probably aren't very busy this time of year.