The most common constructions that you will see are 1×19 (1 strand of 19 wires) and 7×19 (7 strands comprised of 19 wires each). Your choice as to which grade to use should be made with consideration of the type of sailing you usually do (cruising or racing) and the water that you sail in (fresh or salt water).īesides the material that the cable is made of, the construction is also important. The difference between the two grades is due to the chemical composition of the metal. Only stainless steel will survive and within stainless steel there are a couple of common choices, 304 grade (slightly stronger but less corrosion resistant) or 316 grade (slightly less strong but more corrosion resistant). Regular steel wire rope like you can find in a home improvement or hardware store will not last long in a marine environment. When working with a rigger, especially an industrial rigger who may not be familiar with sailboat rigging, it’s important that you specify the correct cable type for strength, chafe avoidance, and rust resistance. Don’t wait for your rigging to look like this. In all of the pictures in this post, the rigging tape was removed from over the swaged fittings to show their condition and workmanship. But the fact remains that pressed sleeves have been used successfully for decades, are still an accepted industry practice, and even as bad as my rigging was, they did the job well. Proponents make impressive claims about their superiority over the more primitive pressed sleeves. The common reasons for using the new fittings are fewer parts to maintain, fail, or chafe sails and their ability to withstand a higher percentage of the breaking strength of the cable. The newer, roller-swaged style fittings are significantly more expensive than hand-pressed sleeves. I decided to have the shrouds made out of 316 stainless steel with thimbles and Nicro Press sleeves rather than roller-swaged terminals for two reasons: cost and simplicity. I met with Cory at Broadway Industrial Supply and was surprised to learn that they are now filling many more orders for stainless steel wire than ever before due to its popularity for architectural railings. Popular online Catalina parts retailer: $4.00/ft. That’s what I call a no-brainer.įollowing are approximate costs per foot (in 2014) for standing rigging from several popular sources compared to the rigging company in my area. For about the cost of the bare wire rope to do it myself (not including tools, thimbles, and sleeves), they could do it all. Their answer to both questions was yes and they gave me a very encouraging cost per foot estimate. I called them to find out if they worked with stainless steel and were experienced in building sailboat rigging. I was familiar with their regular steel wire rope products from a job that I held long ago. Then I remembered that there is an industrial rigging company located near me. Next, I considered making the rigging myself from materials bought online but investing in the proper tools would dilute the cost savings considerably. I tried to get price quotes to compare with the Catalina parts retailer from several other rigging shops that advertise in sailing magazines and online but they were either unresponsive or vague. But their prices are steep and I’d had a bad experience with their technical support. They make replacement easy with pre-made kits or they can make custom replacements from your original rigging. The lower shrouds were a mix of mismatched, poor quality, oversized replacements and failing originals.Īt first, I assumed that I would replace the backstay, forestay, and lower shrouds with kits from that same retailer. The backstay and forestay were in satisfactory condition but were original from 1981. The upper shrouds had been replaced recently with well made cables, probably from that popular online Catalina parts retailer. When we purchased Summer Dance, the standing rigging was one system that I knew I would need to replace soon.
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