oday22 inner stay length

kpgraci · Oct 15, 2012

There's Rudy at DR Marine for all things ODay. Lengths can be tricky because of owner mods and model differences. I would measure the length by fully rigging and using a string for the side stay, mark it, de-rig and measure when pulled to the same tension. Then it's pretty straight forward to make your own allowing for fitting and turnbuckle lengths, or give that number to a rigger or Rudy.

I made my own back stay and an outer shroud - it was a pretty easy process but if your not sure let a pro do it - its important to get it right.

I bought my supplies on line here http://www.suncorstainless.com/swageless-fittings, west marine also sells the wire and terminals. Cost was about $100 per stay. Norseman, sta-lok, and Hi-mod make very good swageless fittings for the do it yourselfer.

Sunbird22358 · Oct 15, 2012

Rudy charges $70.00 each for the lower sidestays. $81.00 each for uppers for the 22. He wil lneed to know model year of the boat (or is she has masthead rig or Fractional rig. Masthead was 1972-79 models, fractional was 1980-83)

Joe11688 · Oct 16, 2012

Deematic said:
Went out to my 75 oday 22 this weekend and found my inner stays broken. Port side broke at the mast , starboard pulled the turnbuckle. Does any one know the proper length, and a source.
Thanks,
Derrick

What I would do Derrick is remove your other lower stay and bring it to a sailboat rigger and have him make up another one just like it.

RichBone · Oct 16, 2012

I agree with Joe, you should be able to piece together what you have to get a measurement. Without seeing a picture or a better description of the damage I doubt that the length of the shroud would be much affected. On a larger note, why were just the lower shrouds broken? I suspect that the condition of the rest of the standing rigging is in question. Is this boat from fresh or salt water?

Joe11688 · Oct 16, 2012

Deematic said:
Thanks for the support, My concern is that what i have remaining is damaged, i don't feel that i can get a accurate measure. Maybe i can trg it out? i have a height and a dist from mast to attachment on deck. What do you think? Who's Rudy?

I would take the mast down and remove both stays. You could bring both of the stays to a rigger and have him check the other stay out but he can use that other stay to make up a new stay for you.
Rudy Nickerson owns and operates a sailboat hardware store in Assonet Ma. http://www.drmarine.com/ Give him a call. He may be able to provide you with a stay if you know the spar manufacturer of your boat. It might say on your mast or boom.

SchwarckT · Oct 16, 2012

I sent a broken forestay from my '22 to www.riggingonly.com and had a replacement made. It fits fine.

Joe11688 · Oct 17, 2012

I don't think anyone knows why a stay breaks. The cause could be from a number of things. Years ago I a bad habit of grabbing my stays as I moved toward the bow of my boat. After a while, that stay developed a broken strand. A broken strand can cause the demise of your mast. Sometimes the impurities in the steel will cause rust in stainless steel under the swaged terminal where you can't see it.
In my O'Day Owner's manual it says that it's advisable to use a hair drier to warm up the cable at each swaged fitting and rub wax around this area to keep out the moisture. This seems like an excellent idea to me and I've done this a number of times to my rigging.

I keep my rigging stored in my house. I never leave it on the mast during the winter months. I believe that this can help with the longevity of rigging.

kpgraci · Oct 17, 2012

Seems I was overridden on the direct measure technique, sure the shroud length will be what it is and a rigger can gain a lot of info (wire size, turnbuckle style, maybe even cause of failure) by looking at the original. I'm sure it's just me but I prefer to go to the source, no matter.

I did not ask but was concerned about the 'went out to the boat to find both lower shrouds broken" statement. Were they in tack last time you went out to the boat? That seems odd. I would look closely at all the standing rigging as I suspect there are other problems.

Don't ignore broken strands (speaking from experience) or rust, or kinks or bent turnbuckles on anything that does not look perfect (at both ends).

EDIT: Just read Deematic's last post - shredded...wow. Both of them...wow. For two to fail at the same time in the same way - what are the odds? Strong winds rocking the boat - lowers to tight taking all the stress? Even so that's just weird.

kpgraci · Oct 17, 2012

Deematic said:
How tight should the standing rigging be?

On the 22 the manual says hand tight (or something to that effect). I have mine nice and taut but not overly so. On many non-trailerable boats they go 20% breaking strength, which is way to much for this boat.
On a beam reach the side shrouds should go slack.

RichBone · Oct 18, 2012

Right, you have to develop a feel for stay tension- at least on these boats (mine included) that were designed mainly as trailerable with relatively low tension rigs. The lower shroud should be tighter than the upper because it is shorter and doesn't stretch as much. Like stated above the leeward shrouds should be slack, but not too much. The forestay and the backstay are more critical for performance because of helm balance and the tension of the forestay determines the amount of draft (and position of maximum draft) of the headsail. Without actual numbers on the amount of tension it all comes down to experience of sailing the boat under different conditions until then all you can go on is general guidelines. BTW 'hand tight' is almost meaningless with old fittings. They just don't turn as easily as new ones and these boats probably weren't designed thinking that they would still be sailing 30- 40 years down the road. Good luck and enjoy. Life is about the journey and not the destination.

Rich

Joe11688 · Oct 18, 2012

Deematic said:
Thanks for that advice on storing indoor. It was my first season with the boat and i have no idea if previous owner stored them properly. I have asked this question of other sailors, How tight should the standing rigging be?

Don't get me wrong. I'm probably the only one on this forum who stores his rigging indoors.
I use my mast for a ridge pole to tie my tarp to at the end of the season. I use long lengths of two foot wide tarp to wrap the mast after I have stripped the mast of the spreaders and standing rigging. This prevents chafe to my 18'X30' polytarp. I roll up my standing rigging and my lifelines and stanchions and store them inside for the winter.

Joe11688 · Oct 18, 2012

I cheat a little bit and use a Loos Gauge. It takes all the guess work out of tensioning stays.

kpgraci · Oct 19, 2012

Trinkka said:
Don't get me wrong. I'm probably the only one on this forum who stores his rigging indoors.
I use my mast for a ridge pole to tie my tarp to at the end of the season. I use long lengths of two foot wide tarp to wrap the mast after I have stripped the mast of the spreaders and standing rigging. This prevents chafe to my 18'X30' polytarp. I roll up my standing rigging and my lifelines and stanchions and store them inside for the winter.

Which is why Joe's boat is in such great shape. I abuse the heck out of mine - but it keeps on sailing.

oday22 inner stay length

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