My genoa and its sheets rub on the shrouds when tacking so I put those split vinyl tubes over the shrouds to protect the sail. I'm now worrying this will trap water and cause corrosion. Anyone have experience with this?
Vinyl covers for shrouds
- Thread starter wing15601
- Start date
They will be fine if you take the covers off in the off season but if you don't they will get grody under the plastic. Have used for 16yrs and no problem yet.
WI...
Your shrouds are made of stainless (not never rust). Stainless works because the metal when exposed to air does not let water get in. Let water sit on stainless and you have the makings of a rust farm.
If the guards are over sized (so air can get down and around the shroud and water can not get trapped) you should be ok.
On my trailer boat the only area I had concern was the turnbuckle. So I got a short piece of thin walled pvc tube and slipped it over the turnbuckle. Never a problem.
What part of the shroud is the sail rubbing against that causes concern?
Your shrouds are made of stainless (not never rust). Stainless works because the metal when exposed to air does not let water get in. Let water sit on stainless and you have the makings of a rust farm.
If the guards are over sized (so air can get down and around the shroud and water can not get trapped) you should be ok.
On my trailer boat the only area I had concern was the turnbuckle. So I got a short piece of thin walled pvc tube and slipped it over the turnbuckle. Never a problem.
What part of the shroud is the sail rubbing against that causes concern?
One caution about using oversized covers - if they are the wrong size they slide down over the swage fittings and trap water there. This leaves the swages (probably the most corrosion vulnerable and hardest to inspect part of the rig) sitting in moisture all the time.
You might try those little Harken wheel things to avoid chafe. They're really overpriced, but work well on the lifelines. You can keep them in place on the shroud with a bit of tape and a nylon washer. http://www.harken.com/productdetail.aspx?id=5578&taxid=377
Is that the PC technical term for the bent over ends of the cotter pins? I thought they were meat hooks?
I have short pvc tubes over the bottom of my shrouds and turnbuckles. They are oversized and certainly let water out (they are open at the bottom). Spiders like to hang out in there, but a blast of water down the tube when I am scrubbing the deck blows them out. I have not noticed any green stuff or corrosion.
Greg
Greg
I've owned a Hobie cat and a 14 foot double ended sailboat but this O'Day 28 is the first real sailboat I've owned. My first few sails revealed the knots used to tie the sheets to the genoa were hanging up on the shrouds when I tack. I tried to solve this by splicing eyes in the sheet and using dyneema shackles, which I've been using for 2 years now. That's why I tried the vinyl covers, not for chafe prevention as much as for easing the slide across by the sail while tacking. The thought about corrosion just happened to occur recently but I think I'll leave the covers on for the season and see what I find when I pull the boat this fall.
yeah, the cotter pins. Put a band of rigging tape around the turnbuckle opening where the cotter pins are located.