Dear Brian, and Brion,
Spurred-on by your posting of pictures of the Dynex rigs you are doing, I have attached some photos of the re-rig I carried out with Dynex on the 1936 designed and built "LANDFALL" - S&S design #54. She was built in Tasmania and now calls Sydney home.
I have worked closely with Mike Strong of Strong Rope here in Sydney for a while now, developing techniques for getting this material to a point where it exibits repeatable characteristics when incorporated into a stay, with promising results.
I chose their Dynex product with overbraid . Strong Rope also supplied all the other hardware - thimbles, turnbuckles as well as the serving material.
As you can see, being a bit gun-shy of the stretch caracteristics, I allowed for quite a lot of adjustment on the caps and less on the lowers.
I was actually too clever for my own good, because the Dynex stretched a LOT less than I allowed for with the results showing in the fully tuned lengths of the turnbuckles. I was expecting to tighten the screws all the way up and then have to shorten and re-splice the bottom ends. In reality, the stays have tensioned just like Dyform and have held their tune well.
In subsequent rigs I have allowed the normal 2/3rds to 7/8 open on the screws and made to that.
"LANDFALL has been happily sailing around for nine months now with no ill effects and a marked improvement in her sailing abilities.
As Brion says, it seems we are on the cusp of a renaissance in affordable fibre rigging as a direct replacement for the usual 1x19 and swaged ends. Everything on LANDFALL fitted into the existing tangs and spreader tips without modification.
I have been recommending this system to most of my re-rig customers with about a thirty percent take-up rate.
I will keep you posted.
Regards,
Joe Henderson.
