replacing running rigging on a sailboat

A forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Whether youre buying a used sailboat thats new to you or youve owned your boat for decades, the standing rigging is what keeps the mast in place, and thus requires particular attention. The Average Cost to Shrink Wrap a Boat (per foot), seasonal maintenance, hull, engine, rigging, don't set aside money for long-term recurring maintenance (rigging, sails, hardware, and batteries), don't outsource engine maintenance, instead do oil changes ourselves, seasonal maintenance - yearly recurring jobs. Running rigging varies between vessels that are rigged fore and aft and those that are square-rigged. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. Clean and lubricate them, then refasten them, and remember to mouse them with new galvanized wire and tape over the ends to avoid chafe. The simple answer is to measure it. You can take a masthead halyard from side to side to ensure that the masthead is on center. Tensioning them will be done later in the rigging sequence. Here's a full overview of all the recurring maintenance from most to least frequent. WE SHIP WORLDWIDE: More Info. By taking on the labor yourself, youll probably save as much as $2,000 on the re-rigging cost, he says. But Malizia is far from the only team struggling to keep their boat in good read more, Get your ground tackle setup right, and youll sleep much easier while youre cruising. Next check the back and forestay fittings where they connect to the mast, ensuring any clevis pins are straight and secure. Youll need about 500 feet for an average 30 footer. Preparing The Boat For Rigging. As a basic rule, the replacement of the standing rig should be done every 10 years, except for multihulls or regattas, and rod or composite fiber rigging. In marine environments, everything can go wrong exactly one time for it to be critical. The easiest way to prevent line from chafing all the way through is to simply look at your line. There are multiple combinations and variations: For instance, if your mast has double tangs, most likely the end fitting will be an eye although it can be a marine eye or an aircraft eye, which differ primarily in shape. You could be setting yourself up for some serious problems, as well a spending a lot of unnecessary money into the bargain. What would be the maintenance cost if you were on a tight budget? Check and make sure the sheaves run freely, that the bearings are not worn oval and that the retaining pins are secure. A lot of new boat owners overlook the maintenance costs of sailboats - and maintenance can get pricey quickly. If you own a bluewater cruiser, your maintenance cost will go up a lot. It's a really helpful post (with a formula) if you want to know what to expect. Down Haul. Redoing the running rigging on a cruising sailboat involves measuring, measuring and measuring. You must log in or register to reply here. ImproveSailing is compensated for referring traffic and business to this companies. Hello improvesailing.com webmaster, You always provide useful information. These boats have less moving parts and less critical parts. The first decision is whether to tackle the job with the mast up or down. Give us a call, and we can give you a rough quote. The cover on core dependent dyneema line normally acts as the first defense against UV rays and chafe, but when you strip it back, the dyneema has to fend for itself. Read more on boat engine replacement costs here. Please try again. Some have an extra light sheet for real light winds so the sheet doesnt weigh the jib down. Failing to winterize it will increase your maintenance cost over time, as the engine wears out more quickly, and your plumbing and equipment will fall apart. Standing rigging are the cables that support the mast. A little less than the semi-circular groove on the sheave (or pulley).Generally its not strength issue for diameter but rather thick enough to be easily handled. Marlow Ropes in the UK produce Marlowbraid. With all of these factors in mind, what can you expect to pay for standing rigging replacement? But Marissa and Chris Neely on Avocet saw a weather window and jumped, making their first big offshore passage the wrong way from Santa Barbara to San Francisco and loving itmostly. Lifejackets have to be replaced every 10 years. Fisheries Supply is your premier supplier of sailing and rigging rope from top brands like Samson, Marlow, Robline and New England Rope. To avoid you have to go cheap on your safety gear, I've put it in the budget for $500. Now, let's return to the original proposition, which was a complete replacementon three different cost levelsof basic running rigging for a 32 sloop. On this page you will find both rigging hardware and rigging tools. How exactly do you determine how much line you need for a given size sailboat? First, its easier to fix in remote places and on your own. I've read that standing rigging should be replaced anywhere from 10 all the way up to 20 years and also simply based on condition. JavaScript is disabled. [1] This is the furling line for an in-mast furler. That was a case of not knowing that the worst thing you can do to standing rigging is have it loose on the leeward side, he says. The Tartan 30 is an ideal used boat choice for a small family looking to sail offshore in varying sea conditions or simply wanting to have fun racing around the buoys with line-honors confidence. You should be mechanically inclined, he says, and the way to find that out is if I start talking all this technical jargon and you decide whether youre suited to handle that at all.. Replacing electronics won't be very important - however, your batteries will need to be replaced more often. [1] 2. 3. I'll also inquire about upgrading to one size up. A swaged fitting is a terminus thats attached using a machine called a swager. Our sailboat running rigging includes sailboat mainsheets, sailboat halyards, and all major sailboat lines. Since then I've enjoyed sailing very much - and I've never been afraid of the water again. Replacing the mast is uncommon, but if you're unlucky and get demasted, it will need to be fixed. The cost to replace standing rigging obviously varies from boat to boat. This is a quick and easy job for a rigger to do and covers can be replaced each season rather than discarding the rope. I used the Sta-Set solid color line to easily identify the lines. For over 40 years we have specialized in manufacturing standing rigging for all of the major sailboat manufacturers nationwide. If your running rigging has seen better days, now might be the time to replace it. It's about a days worth of work. [advertisement] Take this opportunity to check out your spars as well. I would think at the first notice of a few broken strands in more than two of the wires. When we brought our Oday 25 home ,I knew judging from the lack of care the previous owner shown the rigging might also be suspect. Now would also be a good time to change those old cotter pins and circlip rings as well. If the baseplates, for example, are leaking, water will penetrate the deck, making the surrounding deck core mushy and weak (if a core exists) and possibly compromising supporting bulkheads and structures belowdecks. Your boat will need bottom paint roughly every 2 years (could be longer, but to be safe, let's keep it at two). Generally, end fittings fall into a few classes: studs, eyes, forks and hooks, each of which comes in a dizzying array of sizes and configurations. If you dont have that you may be able to find it on line or on line at your boat class owners association. Replacing your Standing Rigging with Jimmy Green Marine. I use a 3D model and some diagrams. Depending on the answers to those questions and others, a professionally done re-rig for a 40-footer could be closer to $6,000 or more. Then the swager is used to compress the fitting so tightly that the wires merge into a solid piece of stainless steel and cant pull out (right). What is the average sailboat maintenance cost? The customer had had the boat re-rigged, and during a trip to the BVI, the new wire stretched. On our old boat we had the Port Aft lower shroud fail while sailing. The following resources contain do-it-yourself information on upgrading and maintenance. Run the shrouds and attach them to the deadeyes on the hull. We only sell guaranteed-content, guaranteed-process wire, Herman says. Connect the halyard to the head of the sail, here we are looping the halyard back over its plastic stopper to lock it in place. Theres such a safety margin in rigging. For instance, the Rigging Company makes a spare-stay kit that can accommodate either wire or rod rigging repairs, Cockerill says. The masthead is a good place to start, and while youre at it, its worth looking closely at the mast as well as the rigging, to see if any corrosion, cracks or weld defects are evident. The interval of longterm maintenance will increase dramatically in these conditions. Sailboat Rigging. Some boaters don't shrink wrap in the winter because of it. It rolls the end fitting through two opposing dies and compresses the fitting on the wire so tightly that it cant pull out. On this eye splice, the core has herniated out of the cover. This way you can cut the wire roughly to length and have a rigger swage the tops, fit them in place yourself and terminate the lower ends to suit. Seems like a lot for a 40' boat. Theres no real way of measuring that. A boat in the water is in constant motion and the rigging experiences constant micro shock loads even when sitting in the slip. This video illustrates how to change your halyard rope in your sailboat. Running rigging The running rigging consists of all the lines, sheets, and so on that is used to haul and operate the sails. The idea is you come on deck with this small canvas bag and make it happen, Cockerill says. Most sailors choose to leave this to a professional rigger, but theres no reason why you shouldnt attempt it yourself if you know the best way to go about it. Most insurance companies reckon you should replace your standing rigging about every 10 years. The November 1969 Modern Boating magazine . The average cost of a new cruising sailboat is about $250,000. Ensure you keep hold of the standing end so it doesn't disappear to the top of the mast. Additionally, a DIY sailor needs to do plenty of research, particularly when it comes to wire quality, which is something professional sailboat rigging companies watch like hawks. how much fuel a sailboat uses in my article, ICC (International Certificate of Competence, Average Cost of Buying & Owning a Sailboat (With 4 Examples). It's also called antifouling paint because it helps to protect your hull from weeds, barnacles, and so on. Hi, I'm Shawn, and when I was 2 years old, I was sailing (with my parents) on the English Channel during a proper storm (and by proper I mean something along the lines of force 10). In a tropical area, or high sunshine location, you should replace the running rigging every six to eight years. The total maintenance cost for a bluewater cruiser will average around $3,225 per year or $269 per month. So here are some tips and things to look for so that you can replace your running rigging before it breaks. Most racers that use stripped cover halyards are diligent about inspecting these lines and some even replace them every season. The screw threads and locking nuts need regular cleaning and some light greasing to prevent corrosion. 9034 GD Marsum The theory is that it can take 10 to 15 years of cycling, but this continual motion when its unloaded is what fatigues the wire, Madden says. Enough tape to cover a cotter pin suffices; otherwise, leave the metal open to the air. This was most likely caused by something sharp and pointy that poked through the cover and caught on the core. Usually the owner's manual gives you the specifications of all the running and standing rigging. For an idea of the costs involved to replace your standing rigging, here are some examples of sets of rigging we have made for customers in the past 12 months (prices as of Sept 2022). Its good enough to get you to safety and someplace you can make a more permanent repair. Riggers say very few sailors re-rig from wire to rod or the reverse, but if switching is on your mind, have a professional make a full assessment first. One advantage is that you might not need to winterize if you're a fulltime cruiser since you'll probably spend your winters in Bermuda. If you look closely at the line right before it wraps around behind the spindle, youll see that it is starting to chafe because there is not a fair lead for the line running into the slot. Generally, they consist of either three or four parts (Sta-Lok has three; Hi-MOD has four), including a sleeve; a cone; in Hi-MODs case, a crown wheel; and the terminal (an eye, fork, stud, etc.). It has a synthetic stay with an eye splice, a toolless turnbuckle (the Handy Lock, made by C. Sherman Johnson), quick-release fast pins with an attached lanyard, several high-strength Dyneema loops, and even a heavy-duty zip tie to fish loops in and out of holes in a mast. The diameter of the sheets and halyards will depend on what fits the blocks that you have. Depending on the spreader joint, cap shrouds can sometimes prove troublesome as well, often requiring the spreaders to be disconnected at their roots. A boat spending most of the last 10 years on a trailer with the mast in a cradle has only corrosion to consider. The average price of used sailboats is $111,000, ranging from $19,000 to $518,000. Its common to choose to fit lighter swaged terminals at the top of a stay or shroud and mechanical ones at the bottom, where swaged terminals are more vulnerable to corrosion. You should have the boat itself (the hull), the dagger board, the rudder and tiller, your mainsheet, both mast pieces, boom, boom bang and sail in one place. Sometimes they let you go longer if you have the rig professionally inspected, particularly if you have an electronic check carried out on the terminals and other crucial fittings. This halyard has minor chafe right now, but the chafe is acute and has an identifiable source. Old turning blocks, padeyes, sheaves and cam cleats as well as genoa tracks and rope clutches are just not capable of handling the loads you can exert using high tech line. That's why I've calculated the average maintenance costs for four different types of boat below: Your specific maintenance cost will vary depending on what type of boat you have and how you'll use it. There are other wires out there that are cheaper, but theyre not guaranteed.. A stripped cover dyneema halyard is a great way to reduce the splice diameter and weight aloft for racers, however, they do have their downsides. Put together both the pieces of your mast. Skilled marine technicians charge from $75 - $150 per hour. The Down Haul consists of a line attached to the mast end of the boom. The only thing we can really do is regularly inspect lines to look for wear. But you can't really detect corrosion down into the swage. To avoid excessive wear, make sure your halyard sheaves are the proper type for whatever line you select. Not all maintenance is as important. For instance, Madden says, he recently had a customer whose 46-foot cutter had a rigging failure at six years. Replacing Running Rigging on an Older Sailboat, a bowline or other knot in a high tech line reduces the breaking strength by up to 80%, for jib sheets you must increase the line size to account for the reduced strength more $$$$, an eye splice is required to attach a shackle to a halyard. If you go DIY, you will be limited to mechanical end fittings unless you hire a rigger to swage your end fittings. I have broken more than my share of components in newer boats while a lot less in older boats. For sheets, if you're happy with the length take the old ones off determine the gauge and and match them up. At minimal cost you can rig a permanent preventer that is easy to use, is fully adjustable, and does not require going forward on deck. Although the hull actually read more, It was March, and Id made it through another Maine winter. I'll agree that most of the kinks were created during stepping or prepping for storage. There is no hard and fast rule for when to replace your running rigging. Barnacles can slice through your boat's bellow! Do disconnect them and inspect them very carefully for cracks on a well-lit workbench. The cost of replacing the standing rigging is, on average, $4,000 every 10 years. Next check the back and forestay fittings where they connect to the mast, ensuring any clevis pins are straight and secure. If you follow directions, they are fairly straightforward to install, although not especially easy. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more! I agree with a general average of 20 years for replacing the standing rigging. That said, it is perfectly possible, though somewhat tedious, to change shrouds and stays in pairs with the mast up by using halyards and intermediate tackles to support it. [advertisement]. I won't go into detail, but I have written an in-depth article about the cost of new sails (opens in new tab). In the past, long-distance cruisers typically chose wire rigging with mechanical fittings for all of these reasons. On average, it costs about $15 to $20 per foot to get your sailboat hull painted professionally. We're the first and last stop for parts and accessories. For a 26' sailboat, that's just 500 bucks. For docklines a 27 ft. boat would use 1/2" nylon: 25' bow, 15' stern, and 20' spring. Don't forget that this site will also replace your rigging. But you know what is more expensive? If you want to learn how to make your sailing dream reality within a year, leave your email and I'll send you free updates. It is very flexible and easy to handle, and is still the line of choice for most applications on cruisers and club racers. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The golden rule has always been never to work on a rig with the boat out of the water. Most recent receipt was for lower stays 10 years ago. All standing rigging, whether rod or wire, has to end in a fitting that attaches to the deck and mast. If you carry a life-raft you'll need to replace that every 12 years as well. The boat owner or previous rigger had clearly replaced the old line without looking for the source of the chafe. Shes the director of media relations at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, and she and her family continue to pine and plan for the day they can return to the cruising life. There is minor chafe on all sides of the line and along the entire length. 26' Bermuda Sloop rig will cost you about $1,000 - $2,500. Hardwood would be best but we used epoxied plywood and it was adequate. For later reference, photograph each wire end, terminal and mast attachmentditto for the lower ends, turnbuckles, toggles and chainplatestaking careful note of the positions of the turnbuckles. Batteries have a limited number of charge cycles. After that, you'll need to change them out. A professional needs roughly 8 hours to get the job done. Inspect any integral reefing sheaves or bearing wear or UV degradation. Die testing wont pick it up, and its rare that a wire will give you warning before breaking.. A prudent sailor should inspect his or her standing rig at least once each season and should know when the time comes to replace most or all of it. Usually the owners manual gives you the specifications of all the running and standing rigging. And if you get a young, strong, enthusiastic gorilla on a halyard winch, he could pull the headboard out of the sail, damage the sheave at the masthead or pull the turning block at the base of the mast out of the deck. It's the best way to protect your boat in wintertime, period. Winterization is an often-overlooked cost, but it can be one of the largest expenses each year. Bluey Williams's yard was a cowshed in Lawnton near the North Pine River, on the northern side of Brisbane and inland from Redcliffe. You mean all together don't you? Included in every new DragonFlight 95 v2 kit : v2 DF95 Rigging Instructions. Also, you'll have plenty of time doing odd jobs yourself, since you'll be living on the boat. Its always advisable to unstep the mast every few years to check it over thoroughly at ground level, so this is an obvious time to consider replacing the shrouds and stays, particularly if the forestay is to be replaced, as removing the furler without damaging it can be a tricky task. Saltwater is a lot more corrosive, and the stress on your rigging and sails will be higher. You should be able to get the specs off the internet. USCG safety regulations require you to replace safety gear regularly. Step 1 - Hire a professional rigger with a good reputation to do a thorough survey of your standing AND running rigging. But a newly cracked sheave or an exposed cotter pin can quickly shred a line that otherwise would have lasted much longer. The standing rigging consists of wires supporting the mast on a sailboat and reinforcing the spars from the force of the sails when sailing. The only thing we can really do is regularly inspect lines to look for wear. Although rod rigging is more common on racing boats, many well-known cruising-boat builders, such as Valiant, Bristol, J/Boats and Hinckley, have rod-rigged models. About us They also would carry a piece of wire as long as the longest stay on the boat coiled and stowed, which undeniably was sometimes easier said than done as well as spare end fittings and the tools needed to replace a broken shroud or stay. For docklines a 27 ft. boat would use 1/2 nylon: 25 bow, 15 stern, and 20 spring. Privacy Policy, Improve Sailing helps you to make your sailing dream actionable, by writing in-depth articles on practical questions. If you have (reasonable) evidence that the PO replaced only the worst sections, it's safe to assume that the rest of the rig is getting ancient and failure prone. This is a perfect example to illustrate why a thorough, yearly inspection of running rigging is important. I personally take stock of a pleasure boat's components and their age and will not load an older boat's rigging as much as I would a newer one. VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Buy some light line and run it as you would your sheets and halyards and measure that. Perhaps a rogue cotter pin sticking out of a turnbuckle. Gas engines run for about 1,500 hours, diesel engines run for 5,000. A Bonnier LLC Company. Listing Results for Shore Support & Services, Sailing & Rigging and ENG1 Medical Certificate in Marans, Levallois Perret and Cap D'Agde Every sailboat has an Out Haul and a Down Haul. PACESHIP PY26 Sailboat details on sailboatdata.com. Adhering to the minimum safety requirements shouldn't cost you more than 150 - 250 dollars every 5 years. I should have changed mine sooner than I did. Do you want to earn money to write on our website? The wire itself rarely fails midway along a shroud, so this makes good sense. Most of my clients say to me without any prompting, This is one area I feel should be done by a professional, Madden says. The worst-case scenario, of course, is that the chainplates pull right out of the deck, with catastrophic consequences. Splices should be made by a professional, high tech line is very difficult to cut. Most people starting out will get a smaller size boat and use it for day trips and weekend trips. JavaScript is disabled. SailboatOwners.com, 605 NW 53rd Avenue, Gainesville, FL, 32609 But a newly cracked sheave or an exposed cotter pin can quickly shred a line that otherwise would have lasted much longer. Listing Results for Sailing & Rigging and ENG1 Medical Certificate in Marans, Levallois Perret and Cap D'Agde If your standing rigging is . Start by digging out the bosuns chair and finding a trusted (and hopefully fit) buddy to help you. A sailboat doesn't have to be expensive if you know what you're doing. Just a FYI. Polyester double braid works great for frequently adjusted lines, like main and jib sheets, or moderately loaded control lines. Do this by placing a wrap of tape 3 up from the upper chainplate pin hole on each upper shroud. The total maintenance cost for a small daytripper will average around $1,600 per year or $133 per month. There are also a few spots where the chafe is more serious. Top manufacturers of swaged fittings are Hayn Marine Rigging Products, Alexander Roberts and C. Sherman Johnson. Your costs will range from a couple of hundred dollars for a small outboard up to over a thousand for a large or difficult to reach inboard. Included are halyards, main sheet, headsail sheets, and topping lift. Outboard starters run from about $100 - $500. Lastly, check your boom, starting with the gooseneck, mainsheet and vang fittings, where huge forces are applied when the rig is under load. The average maintenance cost will be roughly $255 dollars per month for boats under 30' or just under $3,000 per year. We replaced the line AND the sheave box to ensure that the new halyard wont chafe. The life span of rigging depends on how heavily a boat has been sailed and on the care taken with tuning. Most people need 2 risers + 2 exhaust manifolds. The theory is that youve crushed it so tightly that all the wires inside have just merged into one solid piece of stainless, Madden says. For all of these reasons, most riggers agree that when your sailboats standing rigging approaches 15 years old, its a good time to consider replacing it. Have a feel for any rough or sharp edges, especially cotter pin ends that might chafe lines or sails. If you're hoisting the sail on land, make sure the bow of the boat is pointing towards the wind. For dry storage, part of the process can be to shrink wrap your boat. I dont want be a scaremonger, but standing rigging has so many possible failure points that regular inspections should really be part of every pre-cruise integrity check. The cost of replacing the standing rigging will vary greatly depending on the size of your boat and the location you get the job done. However, larger boats of 30 feet and up will cost considerably more. Its best to slacken them off, giving them a few turns each way and removing any clevis pins for close inspection before re-tensioning the shroud or stay and then locking it off with new split rings or cotter pins. Replacement of the rigging components is more frequent and based on inspection. That cost me $10k. Boats used for coastal cruising, week ending or day sailing may go longer. The biggest problem with rigging and older sailboat with high-tech lines to control the sails is that the lines are too strong for the boat. . Check by sighting up the backside of the mast to see how straight your spar is side to side. The reason it is a scheduled item is that a visual inspection prolly won't detect defects. Your sail area will most likely also be larger, which means your sail replacement will be more expensive. . Free shipping on $90+! Rig inspections, rig replacement and rig upgrades is how we can help. This number is reached by assuming that the average cost for materials is around $1,500, 32 hours to fabricate the rigging, and 30 hours to install the rigging. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. So youre sailing offshore and youre looking at the windward shroud thats taut, and thats not the one to worry about.