Rigging life?

[Mike Oldak]

I have an '84 H34 and heard on Sail Life that rigging lasts about 15 or 20 years. My rigging is almost 40 years old.

My rigger said I had some rubbing at the top that should be addressed, but do I need to replace all the rigging?

 

[DrJudyB]

Wow, that’s really old. Really old. Yes, you should to replace all of it and inspect all your chainplates with dye.

Most riggers recommend, and all insurance companies require, replacement every 10 years.

(On edit: if you don’t replace the standing and/or get a professional rig survey every 10 years and/or keep evidence of periodic inspection/maintenance, insurance companies may decline to cover a claim for rig damage or liability)

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Consider your self very, very lucky you haven’t had a catastrophic failure . I don’t know any sailors who would set foot on a sailboat with rigging that old.

 

[Benny17441]

After almost 40 years that metal must be stressed and the fact the rigger found some sections that require prompt attention indicates the time to replace all the rigging is now. It is not cost effective and structurally sound to replace the rigging piecemeal. The breaking strength and characteristics need to be uniform. Inspect chainplates while you are at it. Do it all, do it now and you will not regret it. Keep all invoices as proof that the job was done recently and properly.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

As a former dealer now retired, I concur with everyone particularly my friend, @DrJudyB who was a sailmaker. I think your mast may be a Kenyon Isomat and for parts , you can go to Rig Rite.

As for rigging, I suggest the forum store as the current owner is a former Hunter employee. If they cannot help, it was Seco South, Tampa Florida, who originally made the rigging. Of course a local rig shop can help as you will have the old rigging
In addition have the mast surveyed for damage as well

Crazy Dave

 

[Sailfanatic]

For better or for worse, my bet is more 40 year old sailboats have the original rigging than those that do not. I would replace the rigging based on inspection rather than the calendar. While insurance companies have an interest in the well being of all major systems, and require periodic surveys for that purpose, in fifty years of boat insurance I have never had an insurance company mandate rigging replacement, setting a life of ten years would be nutty.

 

[markwbird]

Yeah, it's time.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

edit: if you don’t replace the standing and/or get a professional rig survey every 10 years and/or keep evidence of periodic inspection/maintenance, insurance companies may decline to cover a claim for rig damage or liability)

Is that fact, or conjecture? I’d look at the policy. They can’t make up excuses if it’s not there. Counter arguments might include: “If you require it, why did you renew without verification this was done?”

 

[jssailem]

Mike I am a on it is time.

There are two schools of thought.

1. I am only going to keep the boat a few more years so I'll just get the standing rigging pulled off the boat and replaced. RiggingOnly.com is a resource for wire and hardware to remove and replace shrouds. You can even do it one at a time, tying a halyard from the mast to the deck near the where you are removing a shroud. Using the halyard to replace the shroud while you exchange the old should for new. This does involve going up and down the mast a few times. It only replaces the shrouds does not check the mast or the running rigging for defects. It is a patch job but can serve a purpose. Costs roughly between 3K and 6K depending on your boat.
2. The better approach (my opinion) is to remove the mast and take all of the rigging and hardware off the mast and rebuild. I did this in 2016, and it was one of the best investments I did for my boat. Cost about $11K materials and labor. This included a number of improvements to the mast and rigging.

It is your boat and only you know how you will be using it.

I may never get the investment back from my mast refit, but I will not have to wonder... Did that new owner really inspect his mast before he sailed the boat away?

 

[Capt jgw]

I replaced the standing rig on my 1969 Columbia 36 this past spring. As far as I know it was original, 51 years old. PO kept a lot of receipts and other records, nothing in the file about rigging. The Harken furler was shot and you have to cut the head stay to get it off, so I went ahead and did it all. I figured it was time.

 

[DrJudyB]

Is that fact, or conjecture? I’d look at the policy. They can’t make up excuses if it’s not there. Counter arguments might include: “If you require it, why did you renew without verification this was done?”

I have indeed read my boat policy.

The section on "Losses We Do Not Cover" specifically says that they will not cover a loss resulting from neglect to take all reasonable steps to save and preserve the insured property. I replaced the standing rigging 7 years ago on my 1992 boat, and have the receipts as documentation.

(added by edit) There is also a clause in the Section 1 Condition that says
" 3. Seaworthiness Warranty
You warrant that your watercraft will be kept in a safe and navigable condition whenever afloat and/or being operated."

I have also rebuilt the mast with all new fasteners and sheaves. That maintains the value. Otherwise, the insurance company will depreciate the value to almost nothing if I have an accident due to "operator error", such as dropping it while mast raising.

I'm not a licensed insurance agent, so I have relied on the advice of my agent. I have, in the past, discussed this with him, since I own an old but still expensive boat.

 

[Sailfanatic]

I have indeed read my boat policy.

The section on "Losses We Do Not Cover" specifically says that they will not cover a loss resulting from neglect to take all reasonable steps to save and preserve the insured property. I replaced the standing rigging 7 years ago on my 1992 boat, and have the receipts as documentation.

(added by edit) There is also a clause in the Section 1 Condition that says
" 3. Seaworthiness Warranty
You warrant that your watercraft will be kept in a safe and navigable condition whenever afloat and/or being operated."

I have also rebuilt the mast with all new fasteners and sheaves. That maintains the value. Otherwise, the insurance company will depreciate the value to almost nothing if I have an accident due to "operator error", such as dropping it while mast raising.

I'm not a licensed insurance agent, so I have relied on the advice of my agent. I have, in the past, discussed this with him, since I own an old but still expensive boat.

Certainly none of this wording implies or supports a requirement to replace the rigging every ten years, or even in any specific time period. Not to say that rigging should not be replaced as needed...

 

[DrJudyB]

While I agree that the wording is indeed vague, you will have a fight on your hands asking insurance to pay for a new mast if you can't prove that the rigging is less than 10 or 15 years old.

The phrase " reasonable steps to preserve" protects the insurance company from having to cover your loss if you have very old wire rigging. If you are "reasonable" you follow "Industry Standards" that are widely accepted.

You can google "service life of standing rigging" and similar phrases, and find plenty of published maintenance recommendations. They're easily found. some are written experts who design and manufacture rigging

See, for example, this presentation from Navtec Rigging:

Navtec rigging service guidelines

standard yacht standing rigging service in denia

www.slideshare.net

.

Or this one from Rigworks:

https://rigworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Standing-Rigging-Care.pdf

Guidelines are not quite as clear cut as "replace every 10 years" for wire rope rigging, but most of them say 10 (souther)-15 (northern) years on both coasts, 15-20 for inland freshwater boats, Service life for wire rigging is considerably shorter in the tropical climates, or 40-60,000 miles (or one circumnavigation), or whichever comes first. Rod rigging service life is usually said to be about 15-20 years, with a inspection every 5 or 6 years, or 40-60K miles, whichever comes first. Leaving the mast up during winter storage contributes to metal fatigue, so you don't get credit for winter layup unless you drop the rig and store it inside out of the elements.

If I'm going to pay for insurance to cover damage to my boat, I'm going to maintain it according to requirements. Otherwise, the property loss insurance is worthless because the insurance company won't pay. They always will always cover damage to my boat caused by "operator error" (like running aground, for example), but it's much less certain when it comes to rigs, which have a finite service life.

 

[karellen]

When I purchased my current boat the insurance company refused to cover the rigging until it was inspected.

I had trailer sailors most of my adult life and it never came up on those.

For better or for worse, my bet is more 40 year old sailboats have the original rigging than those that do not. I would replace the rigging based on inspection rather than the calendar. While insurance companies have an interest in the well being of all major systems, and require periodic surveys for that purpose, in fifty years of boat insurance I have never had an insurance company mandate rigging replacement, setting a life of ten years would be nutty.

 

[jssailem]

This is the joy of a new boat. Rigging is a thing. Most of the time we are talking about standing rigging which is what holds the mast in place. Insurance Underwriter wants to know from a non interested party - expert that the standing rigging is in good condition if they are going to insure it. It is costly to repair a rig that has fallen.

My rigger stated that of the 1200 plus sailboats in the marina, maybe 60% have rigging that needs to be replaced. Most of those boat owners do not know it.