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Ericson 38 rigging

ligolaiva38

Member II
Don,
My rigging and mast was done by SeaTek in Wilmington CA. that had a good reputation years ago, but when I had my rig and mast refurbished I was surprised it was now sold by Allen Blunt to someone else. The new owner had ripped me off. He had put on small size shrouds (like on a 30ft Ericson instead of the original sizes of the Ericson 38) and length was too short on the forestay. It was the shortness on the forestay that caused the mast to bend awkwardly forward pushing down the forward part of the boat bottom as the backstay was tightened. Also, the cover, under the table covering the holding tank, couldn’t fit in the space on the seat because the gap was pushing forward near the side of the hull and the squareness of the cover wouldn’t fit on the angled seating hole. There were lots of bad things like poor rig tuning, and strange stretching with smaller rigging on a bigger boat. There were also lots of missing parts like toggles on the shrouds that help the shrouds not stay safe as the mast and shrouds made angled movements. I had SeaTek return numerous times and fix things that were done wrong, but it took two years and several riggers to finally figure out that the shrouds were too small on my Ericson 38 and the forestay was too short. On Ericsonyachts.org I learned the correct sizes of rigging on the Ericson 38 which proved that I had the wrong sizes. I was told it was dangerous to sail with smaller wiring and that the mast could have broken. After telling SeaTek the sizes were too small on the shrouds, they refused to do anything about putting on the correct size etc. I now had to redo the rigging right with another rigging company that had a good reputation and that I could trust. Now the door works good, the mast doesn’t seem to be bending forward anymore and holding tank cover fits well now. It hasn’t rained yet, but washing the mast etc hasn’t made the water drain forward into the bilge up front. The reputable rigger showed me all the missing pieces and poor combination of the forestay and Harkin jib roller furling attachment style. It was amazing what a poor job had been done by SeaTek that I didn’t even notice.

I recommend everyone who has their rigging redone know what sizes the rigging must be replaced with and what safety things on the shrouds protect the wires from being strained and damaged over time must be there.

I am not sure, Don what is causing your boat to do the same thing mine did, but I would check to make sure the forestay is the right length because if it is short like mine (mine was 2” inches too short) there is more pressure on the front half of the boat due to the mast angling forward and pressing down more on the forward part of the mast base on the floor than being pushed down level on the floor.

Anyone who has his rigging is changed must know what sizes are needed and all the toggles that must be used to avoid stressing the shrouds ends so they can tell what kind of job is done by the rigger. Bad riggers can damage the boat, mast and shrouds by saving money for themselves by cutting corners like SeaTek does now.

I tried to file a claim with Boat US, but they agreed my rigging was done poorly and wrong sizes, but denied it was their form of claim from poor maintenance companies work so the only thing I will be able to do is try to get a refund from SeaTek by filing in a Small Claims Court.

If anyone has any advice I would be glad to hear it. I hope Don will be able to fix his problems on his boat because it is a real pain not to have the door close because the frame is bending down around the door.
Good Luck in finding the problem,

John
1984 Ericson 38
 

Emerald

Moderator
I had a similar experience with a large rigger that advertises themselves as the best in the Mid-Atlantic region. In my case, they replaced 304 wire rope with 316 wire rope, and didn't go up one size to account for the strength difference. After spending too much time in their offices battling with the sales dude, multiple calls to the owner, and finally an email from a naval architect to back me up, they reluctantly replaced the uppers shrouds, backstay, forestay, whisker and bob stays with the right size stuff. The lowers, staysail and I guess what I'd call intermediate backstays - attach to the mast half way between spreaders and forestay opposite of where the staysail stay attaches, were OK'd at the smaller size by the naval architect assisting me. In the end, I think I ended up with good solid rigging, but it was quite the chore to get there, and made me very aware that you need to have some idea of what should be there when you walk into one of these places. My head still spins as I think about them making statements like, "how should we have known your 70's vintage boat had 304 stainless wire rope". Gee guys, how about 'cause your the experts in the business and that's why I'm dropping a couple K for your help.... I could go on, but I'll restrain myself :mad:
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
I replaced my standing rigging last winter on my E38. I worked with a local rigger, Dick Poe at New England Shipyard in North Kingstown, RI. He's been around forever, was competitively priced, very highly recommended, local, etc. I have no idea what kind of wire was used, didn't ask, making the assumption that the rigger knows his job. The old wire was delivered to him and he made up all new. The rig fit perfectly.

That said I have been tuning and tuning all season. Apparently the rig is stretching and taking a set. I keep taking slack out of the setup 1/2turn at a time every two times out or so keeping the tension in spec with a Loos gauge.

Currently the cap shrouds are maybe 10% tighter that with the old rig and the mast still bends a bit to lee close hauled in 17kts apparent, lee caps just a bit loose. I am guessing the new wire is more stretchy that the old and requires more initial tension to keep the mast in column.

This post makes me think I need to call the rigger and ask some questions though.... Maybe the wire is undersized now? Hmmmm...

RT
 

kiwisailor

Member III
Blogs Author
Ericson 38 rigging shroud help

I have a question about how the shrouds should be setup on the E38. My boat had the upper shroud from the mast feed through the forward slot of the lower spreader and then terminate on the outer deck padeye. The next lower shroud (between upper and lower spreaders) is fed through the aft spreader slot and terminated on the inner deck padeye. So the question I have is this the correct setup for the E38 shrouds? I have looked over the manuals and they say nothing about the shrouds and rigging setup only about tuning the rig.
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
I have a question about how the shrouds should be setup on the E38. My boat had the upper shroud from the mast feed through the forward slot of the lower spreader and then terminate on the outer deck padeye. The next lower shroud (between upper and lower spreaders) is fed through the aft spreader slot and terminated on the inner deck padeye. So the question I have is this the correct setup for the E38 shrouds? I have looked over the manuals and they say nothing about the shrouds and rigging setup only about tuning the rig.

That's exactly how my 1989 E-38-200 was rigged.
 
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