Synthetic Rigging

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Anonymous (not verified)
Synthetic Rigging
I now have all the shrouds and the forestay done. One of the little details about working with the synthetic line is allowing for the shortening that occurs when you bury the tail of the splice: the amount varies with the diameter of the line. Another is discovering the yellow thread that runs down the middle of the 12-strand: if you don't remove it prior to burying the tail, you will turn the air blue with your curses!! :evil: I'm using 1/4" for the shrouds, and 5/16" for the bridle arms/forestay. I had to order these Wichard snapshackles [img]http://www.defender.com/images/614078.jpg[/img] so I must wait for them before finishing the bridles. Here is the forestay: [img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2448/3749036739_e2268ffc0c.jpg[/img] [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/3749036603_c097b48316.jpg[/img] The bury goes from the thimble to the filter case on the table, 25": [img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3749036521_143b2f9dff.jpg[/img]
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Hi Kim, my, but you do nice work. Any chance of knocking up a set of shrouds for a Tiki 21 for me ?? I hope you are on the water soon, the summer is moving along. We have been pestered with gales for the last few weeks in Ireland and it has really cut down on the time on the water. I'm getting used to the '21' now and have knocked her up to 12.6 Knts, while single handed, that gave me quite a blood rush, I can tell you. I'm finding it fast but not too comfortable, but that may be old age catching up. Thanks for your posts, it keeps the spririt up, everyone else seems to have dropped off. Maybe they are all off sailing ?? or got fed up with all the rubbish posts ?? Anyway, Best Regards, JACKIE>
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Thanks, Jackie :) Yes, I have lost a major portion of the summer here, but the season is longer here than most. Better, more consistent wind at this time, but I'll likely be able to sail deep into the fall, and even winter between what storms we get. That is fair flying along in your tiki 21, Jackie! I take it your crew opted out for the high-speed run? :lol: I remember going out right after a storm when I first got Vaea: a fresh breeze and large but smooth swells. I was about 60 degrees off the wind, with full sail up, and we were flying up and down the swells. My wife nudged closer to me and asked it if wasn't time to head back into the harbor. ;) Enjoy yourself, Kim
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Hi Kim I was just curious: What made you go for the synthetic rigging? Good luck with your set-up
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
saluka, Vaea was built in either 1996 or '98, and there is the "10 year rule" on stainless wire rigging. Plus, all the wire must have been cut too short originally, as they all had an extra length of 3 feet or so swaged on the lower ends. It has lasted fine, but . . . So it was time to replace it. At first I was simply going to go to a rigger and get more stainless wire rigging, but on the old board there was a discussion involving Glenn Tieman, who was dismasted several times by the forestay breaking. The stay would break where the wire entered the bottom of the swage at the upper loop on the mast. There were others who had similar problems. The consensus was that the rigidity of the swage worked against the wire, causing it to develop fine cracks until it weakened enough to let go. Glenn was the first to say that this would likely only happen on boats that were heavily sailed. One of the proposed fixes was to use a loop of line at the mast, with a ss ring spliced into it: the stay would then be attached to the ring, thus allowing the stay more freedom of motion. I had been given some old hanks of 12-strand high modulus rope by a fellow in my marina who turned out to have built a classic Wharram ages ago. The stuff is relatively easy to splice, compared to double-braid. I like the idea of being able to splice up my own rigging, not to mention avoiding the sudden failure of stainless steel rigging. All the rules of rigging still apply: all the components of the standing rigging must be built with working loads in mind, and sized accordingly. I'm going to be using these Precourt deadeyes on the shrouds: the upper one is spliced into the synthetic line shroud, the lower one is pinned to the new chainplates, and 3/16" synthetic lashing is used between the deadeyes to tension the shrouds. [img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2505/3775746403_b7c9850712.jpg[/img] The deadeyes help spread the load evenly between the lashings.
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Hi Kim Thanks for taking the time to provide all the info. Cheers
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Kim, The Precourt site has some great stuff, which lead me to wonder -instead of their 'soft hanks' - would it be possible to rig a furler to a synthetic forestay? Have you done this? I havent found much about it on the web, but will look around some more. If it can be done, and all other standing rigging, the weight loss aloft might be minimal on the smaller boats, but not much down side either. Your splicing is grand btw, I have ALOT more practice in store. Cheers, Sam
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Oops, found it. Somehow missed 'furlers' in the Precourt catalogue! Sam
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Pre-stretching the Amsteel (dyneema) standing rigging is suggested, so I put the tow hook in place on my car, and looped an Amsteel strop around my workbench/table saw. [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3801098000_61e8e6882c.jpg[/img] The deadeyes on the shrouds are too wide to fit any of my metal shackles through, so I used an Amsteel soft shackle that I spliced up to do the job: [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3800277593_08a22e12ba.jpg[/img] I'm sort of depressed now though :( , as my wife is insisting on going camping in the Sierra Nevada right now. . .Right when I want to step the mast and finish the boat!! Ah well, she is so understanding of me spending time on the boat that I can't begrudge her for it. Arghh. . .
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Hi Kim, Thanks for sharing the info. The only failures I had on the Tiki after 28,000 miles was stainless steel fatigue. I had u-bolts that hold my net break, I had a mainsheet block swivel fail and more pertinent - I had one shroud part. Luckily I had double shrouds so no big problem. The failure of the shroud was from sailing to windward for so many miles giving slack leeward shrouds that swing back and forth with each bow plunge. The strands parted just below the copper swage. I didn't have a problem with my forestay - but then I did go up a size with a 5mm stay. How are you protecting your stays from UV? Cheers Rory
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Synthetic Rigging
Rory, Samson Amsteel (sk-60 dyneema) and Amsteel-Blue (sk-75) both come coated with "Samthane," a proprietary urethane coating that both resists abrasion and uv damage. The makers do recommend a cover over areas of the line that run through clutches or wrap winches. On Boat-Design.net, I came across a post by Tom Speer, who replaced his worn-out tramps with dyneema knotless netting from [url]http://www.net-sys.com/[/url]: it's called UltraCross, and is used in the fishing industry. Here's a shot of his tramp: [img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2252/1842165632_2e0a4bd9f0_b.jpg[/img] Tom's very interesting post is #37 in this thread: [url]http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/multihulls/catamaran-trampoline-21399.h...