Standing Rig Replacement Beneteau First 38

[jspete]

I have a 1983 Beneteau First 38 which is long overdue for a standing rigging replacement. Since I race the boat, I'm thinking of upgrading the rigging from standard wire but I don't want to spend a fortune for minimal gains. After thinking through various options, here are my questions:

1) While I'd love to switch over to rod, I'm thinking that would be difficult for the sidestays without changing over a lot of existing hardware but I'm wondering if dynaform wire provides a significant improvement over conventional wire?

2) Is it possible to use rod for the headstay inside a Harken MKIII furler? If so, would that be a considerable improvement?

3) I'm not really considering synthetics due to costs, longevity and rating penalties but I could have a synthetic backstay without taking a rating penalty so perhaps that is something that I should consider?

Looking for some input, Thanks!

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
And first, sorry for being so slow in replying. Anything that has less elasticity, but not more weight, would make for an improvement, and your boat would notice the difference. Whether it made for a pleasing cost/benefit ratio would depend on the relative efficiency of what you have now -- is the wire over- or under-size, for instance. I recommend running load numbers for your boat, to see if what you have now is optimal. If it is, be sure you are maximizing the efficiency with a good tune.
Compact strand wire performs comparably to rod, but also costs about the same. On the other hand it can be adapted to items like spreader tips and tangs that rod might have a hard time with.
Synthetics' biggest advantage is that they are far lighter, so yes, switch out at least that backstay, which is the longest wire in the rig, and goes to the masthead. You should get a vivid stability boost from that, and that translates directly to performance.

Fair leads,
Brion Toss