anybody out there with experience of standing rigging replacement?

my hanse 312 is now 20 years old. i am having the loosening lower shrouds tightend next week and will afterwards get a written report regarding the overall condition of the standing rigging , which is the original fitting , with the exception of the forward shroud,  which i had replaced 6 years ago.

so i am wondering now what to expect! A total replacement of the standing rigging , if that were the outcome of the report, would probably be quite expensive.

what is anybody’s  experience regarding this issue please?

thank you!  wieland/happy dayz

I replace my rigging, on my 311, every 10 years & in late 2022 I also fitted a new furler. The cost of the rigging without the forestay & furler was £ 1070; Which I do not think was expensive. It was the same company that re rigged the Cutty Sark after the fire a while ago. So skilled & not cowboys.. They also did rig checks in the interim 5 yrears for the insurance co. Not asked for but I had it done all the same.

It did not include dropping & re fitting the mast, but it did include removing & fitting the rigging ready for the yard to put the mast up.

The reason I replaced the Facnor furler was because it was becoming stiff.  I had already had 5 forestays to find the best mast rake, due to the Facnor being a fixed length unit. My new Profurl has an internal adjustable section, so I can now play with mast rake to suit. My mast is now dead upright, unlike all the other 311,s which are raked aft.

Hi Weiland, 

Some of my thoughts and experience on standing rigging.

Here in UK it is common for yacht insurance companies to ask for standing rigging replacement at 10 years. Insurance companys may be more risk adverse if you want full racing risks for spars and rigging or if you want to go distances far off shore as opposed to coastal sailing [UK again:--typically Brest to Elbe].

However some companies will accept a report from a rigger that the rig is in good order [however any rigger would need to see all the rig and terminations, for example he might just climb mast, but more likely will require mast on ground. Bearing in mind that removal of mast and rig is a significant cost relative to fitting new rig. 

Non destructive techniques are available, probably best used on big yachts, on your 312 the cost compared to new rigging unlikely to be worth NDT. And the rig has to be on ground.

I'm sure another forum member will quote you a recent figure. 

In my 50years sailing I have had a number of rigs made and I fit them myself [with help from crane in boat yard. 

Here in Cowes Isle of Wight we have choice of riggers and for me I would take down the rig [my current yacht H315 2007]  and take rigging to a local rigger avoid the larger firms and have relacements made. I know the cost of crane and man to lift/and replace  my mast when already ashore currently about £300-£400 With me preparing rig and disconnecting electrics, and then reversing process when mast replaced.  Cost of wire and terminations approx £1000, Cost of rigger time and use of equipment to swage terminations £500.

Now expect to double this if you put your yacht into a yard and let them do the whole job.

I'm sure you will get more accurate prices from forum?

Perry

Cowes

Indeed : after use for 20 years replacement will be the right decision and I have found a local rigger who is quoting  similar to what you both are suggesting 

Thank you again

Wieland/ Happy Dayz 

With apologies for being late to respond to your post.

In autumn 2022 I replaced all the standing rigging on my 312 (2005).  It appeared to be original, and relatively lightly used before I bought the boat in 2020.  The only outward sign of deterioration was some rust at the point the shrouds connected to their respective bottle screws, and degrading of the sheave block in the backstay.  The original Furlex roller reefing was becoming stiff, despite regular washing.

Being offered the services of a rigger friend, we decided to replace everything, including replacing the roller reefing with a Bamar unit.  The overall process took about a month as we removed and measured each shroud and stay, storing the mast ashore while replacements were ordered.  It took one day to remove the mast by crane, then remove rigging, and another day to re-assemble and lift the mast into place.

The items were re-fitted and adjusted. Fortunately they required little re-adjustment after use.

Total cost for rigging was about €900, and Bamar C1 roller reefing kit was about €1,200, with the benefit of free labour and trade discounts on above items. The crane and mast storage costs were €360.

In the past I have had a rigger review prior yachts, and it usually only necessitated one or two stays or shrouds being replaced.  The rigging can be done in sequence, on the basis of routine maintenance, spreading the cost over several years. Depending upon your rig, this can often be done with the mast still in situation.

I was about to cruise the Hanse 312 extensively, and felt it prudent to do everything.

Best wishes for your sailing,

Tim

Timlast,

 thanks for the update on your H312 rig replacement. Looks to me you had a good deal. I'm sure you can be confident on rig for another 20 yrs whatever the insurance men say.

Last year I replaced the backstay tensioning with cascaded Dyneema setup. The original turning block where the backstay meets the tensioning "Y" was an aluminium sheave and was totally corroded, I obviously replaced it with suitable block to work with Dyneema.

I guess you found a similar fault on your backstay sheave?

If you havent already,  I recommend fitting a dyneema cascaded backstay adjuster, If you set it so at maximum tension [where the blocks run out of travel] to give maximum mast bent about 1.5 times bast diameter [measured across widest section, fore-aft] then you know you cannont over bend mast. 5mm dyneema is more than strong enough and easy to splice yourself.

Perry

East Cowes H315 (2007)

Do you happen to have a photo of your Dyneema cascaded setup please?

Warm wishes and season’s greetings

Tim

Hi Tim,

Well its raining hard  here today, but when it stops probably Monday? I will go down on boat [5 mins walk to marina] and take some photographs of Dyneema cascade.

If you have not spliced Dyneema its easy, and fun, [check youtube for guides].

I also use cascade system on the boom vang [not dyneema]. I have used cascade systems on vang [kicker strap or boom downhaul], and backstay  on all my yachts since about 1990. previously I used differential drum winch on backstay, but cascade is better/neater?

Also of note I setup the kicking strut spring so it always pushes boom upwards so the cascaded vang is used to pull down boom, therefore in light wind when you may need maximum twist in main sail the boom can be set at right height, the weight in a stack pack and fully battened sail pulls the boom down too much in light wind. 

I dont use a topping lift although its rigged and led aft to pushpit for emergency use should mail halyard fail.

There’s no hurry at all, though I’m curious about the backseat in particular.

Please don’t inconvenience yourself in the rain.

Tim

My dynema backstay adjuster includes some 4 mm cord for the final tension to reduce the amount of dynema needed & give 32;1 adjustment

The 2 pics below are not very good but may show how the corded part fits in to the dynema