Coated SS wire rope for stays and shrouds?

[dscribner]

I need to replace my standing riggin and I'm thinking of using coated cable instead of bare stainless. When the mast is down, all those cables leave grey stripes on the decks and coping. I know there is an issue with unseen corrosion, but with a trailer sailor, how immediate is the danger? Are we talking about taking 5 years off of the life of the stay, which will proabably last well into my retirement? How dumb is this idea? As we are trailer sailors, we proably share the same shallow pockets that seem missing in the 30 footer plud crowd. I'm always looking for a good and cheap way to save time and increase sailing.

 

[ffaubert]

Coated SS wire rope for stays and shrouds

It appears that that is how my Mac25 came from the factory. The stays are bare but the shrouds are coated with about 1/16" of a rubberized plastic.

Frank

 

[BobM]

There is this stuff, but I don't like it because of hidden corrosion, however, as long as you are aware of it, which wait to replace your rigging?

http://www.westmarine.com/1/2/sailboat-rigging-products-snap-on-cable-covers

 

[sinnettc]

Bob's suggestion is what I'd go with - at least you can slide them up and check under them periodically.

 

[Timo42]

Bad idea, there is even a trend away from coated lifelines because of the hidden corrosion issue. Rigging wire is 1x19, the only coated stuff I found was 7x7, it is about 20% weaker than proper rigging wire, so you would have to go one size larger, which would make it more expensive.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Do you tune your rigging?

If you do any racing or performance sailing and plan on tuning your rig then bare is best. If it is like most occasionally sailed trailered boats, untuned, then cheap is probably OK. It's harder on the boat if sailed with slack rigging but it's a personal choise.
Ray

 

[hman]

I use the snap on plastic ones from West Marine. I take them off the shrouds when the boat is in storage in the winter so I can inspect the rigging before launch. (It also makes it a lot easier to coil the stays) My boat is a trailer sailor but spends most of the summer on a mooring ball at the lake. The covers reduce chaffing on the sheets while sailing, so I think it's a worthwhile expense.

Unless you are leaving your boat for long periods of time in salt water, I'd say go ahead!

 

[HEINZIR]

I quit using the snap on covers because they got brittle in the sun after a couple of years. Then they were very hard to remove; came off in broken little pieces.

 

[dscribner]

Thanks guys!

I have some of the platic covers already. They make pretty good sense but they're too short for my liking. If I could get them in coil . . .

I wonder if I got a roll of clear tubing and installed it over the saty before installing the lower fitting.

 

[Sumner]

I'm not sure this is any of the problem or not, but do you know which stainless your shrouds/stays are made from? 304 or 316? 316 is more corrosion resistant and is what I would use if you ever re-rig the boat.

We just bought 316 from these guys....

http://www.riggingonly.com/wire.htm

...to re-rig our boat and they have very good pricing on it,

Sum