Has anyone replaced his/her SS cable standing rigging with rope?
Earlier this year I attended a pre-Hawaii-race talk sponsored by my local Singlehanded-Sailing-Society about rigging. The featured speaker was a local rigger (Ryan Nelson of Rogue Rigging) who works out of the Berkeley Marina. If you would like to see the same seminar, a very authentic video is available here:
He/the forum spent a good deal of time discussing 'synthetic' rigging, which means ropes instead of cables. My summary recollection:
Positives
-Rope rigging is lighter than steel cable.
-Rope rigging is stronger than steel cable.
-Rope rigging shows wear (via furry rough outer sleeves) more obviously than a seldom-touched meathooked cable.
-The idea of rope rigging is not new. Boats had rope standing rigging for hundreds of years before stainless cable came into vogue.
Negatives
-Rope rigging has a break-in period that requires adjustment (tightening). The standard practice is to have a lashing at the hull termination that can be tightened.
-People have only 'gone back' to rope rigging for a decade or so. It may be that stainless rigging will last longer, but one is also supposed to replace his standing rigging every 10 years for safety margins, and rope rigging should last that long.
Other considerations:
-Ryan the rigger recommended that solo Transpac racers NOT have synthetic rigging due to the potential need to tighten the lines in transit.
-The idea of tying off (repairing) rigging should a line fail is attractive, but if you break a stay under load, your odds of keeping the rig up are probably low anyway, so don't invest too much in this idea.
-When I sell my boat, I think rope rigging may be off-putting to some buyers.
I have the sense that mostly hardcore racers are the ones with synthetic rigging at this point. I like the idea of keeping weight aloft down as much as possible, for heeling etc..
Comments welcome!
Earlier this year I attended a pre-Hawaii-race talk sponsored by my local Singlehanded-Sailing-Society about rigging. The featured speaker was a local rigger (Ryan Nelson of Rogue Rigging) who works out of the Berkeley Marina. If you would like to see the same seminar, a very authentic video is available here:
He/the forum spent a good deal of time discussing 'synthetic' rigging, which means ropes instead of cables. My summary recollection:
Positives
-Rope rigging is lighter than steel cable.
-Rope rigging is stronger than steel cable.
-Rope rigging shows wear (via furry rough outer sleeves) more obviously than a seldom-touched meathooked cable.
-The idea of rope rigging is not new. Boats had rope standing rigging for hundreds of years before stainless cable came into vogue.
Negatives
-Rope rigging has a break-in period that requires adjustment (tightening). The standard practice is to have a lashing at the hull termination that can be tightened.
-People have only 'gone back' to rope rigging for a decade or so. It may be that stainless rigging will last longer, but one is also supposed to replace his standing rigging every 10 years for safety margins, and rope rigging should last that long.
Other considerations:
-Ryan the rigger recommended that solo Transpac racers NOT have synthetic rigging due to the potential need to tighten the lines in transit.
-The idea of tying off (repairing) rigging should a line fail is attractive, but if you break a stay under load, your odds of keeping the rig up are probably low anyway, so don't invest too much in this idea.
-When I sell my boat, I think rope rigging may be off-putting to some buyers.
I have the sense that mostly hardcore racers are the ones with synthetic rigging at this point. I like the idea of keeping weight aloft down as much as possible, for heeling etc..
Comments welcome!