Looped Shrounds on a Conventional Aluminum Mast

[Pressuredrop]

(by conventional i mean aluminum mast, single spreader, cutter rig, currently rigged with s/s and norseman fittings)

going to do the rig soon with synthetics and the other thing that really appeals to me besides the deadeyes is the possibility of looping the shrouds/stays around the mast, i would like to loop the uppers and lowers, everything but the staysail tang... the lack of many mechanical fasteners (failure points) and the money saved on hardware (new tangs, less line terminators etc...) are very appealing

2 potential problems of course:

- the mainsail track. it will have to be offset on a shim of about 1/2" with a section of the shim missing (maybe 2.5") to accommodate looping of the the lower shrouds (no big deal). yes, i realize the lowers will have to be put on before the spreaders and sail track... i have no problems with this just one minor concern... should a lower break (highly unlikely and wont seriously jepordize the mast), getting the new one rigged would be a challenge, i.e. a splice would have to be made up the mast with the lower in place through the mast track... follow?
one solution i can think of is a removable area of mast track say 1' that over laps the lower/where the void is in the shim, then a splice could be made at the base of the mast out side the track and the lower slid up into position then replace the section of track... other option in an emergency is to pass the lower through the track and tie a knot to get by...


-the other problem is the mast head, the sheaves are too close to the top to loop so my thinking is remove the mast head fitting, find a few feet of an extrusion that fits outside (an inside extrusion if it will not interfere with the sheaves) the mast perfectly, cut holes for the sheaves, bolt/weld it on, and attach the cleats to hold the loops to the bolted on extrusion? anyone see any problems with this?

basically im a trying to decide if the benefits of this are worth the challenges that must be overcome and the potential problems in the event of a lower failure?

your opinions please??

[benz]

I love my looped shrouds, but have no sail track to contend with nor mashead sheaves (just blocks hanging on strops--if that's the word I want). By the time you shim a track, find an extrusion for the masthead, and get all that work done, you might come out way over the price of having tangs and toggles and thimbles. Also, you'd want to be pretty sure that the aft lower shrouds didn't chafe on the sail track or interfere with the sliders.