to swedge or sta loc?

[Stumble]

Steve,

I work in the marine insurance industry, and so far I have never even heard of a carrier denying coverage because of Dynex. It certainly could happen, but generally as long as the boat passes survey they don't really care. The bigger issue in insurance with rigging is that most rigging is used far beyond the service life recommended of the manufacturer, and this can lead to a denial of a claim, though it is still rare.

As far as furlers, you would need to contact Colligo or one of the other suppliers, but I think they still require wire underneath the foil, or there are some furlers that are self supporting. My guess is that here you would need to go with wire unless a manufacturer gave you the ok to use something else.

[knuterikt]

I'm not going to start a new discussion on synthetic vs SS.

How big is the real advantage of being able to reuse the StaLok's (or other brands)

Wouldn't it be better to carry spares enabling a complete replace?
I like the Emergency Shroud Kits that Colligo have if you have this plus the right adapters for your mast you should be able to do most repairs in the field.

Alternatively some spare StaLok and wire?

The more modification to the "standard" product the more cost and hassle?

[Stumble]

Knut,

I have never tried to install a stalok except on a bench vice. But underway I think it would be possible, but a real pain. Getting the wire cut square, getting the fittings on, and not screwing it up when under the preassure of a broken shroud would be a pretty difficult undertaking, but it has been done, and could be again.

I am not planning on heading back down island any time soon, but if I were I think instead of my old emergency shroud I would carry a Dynex emergency shroud, since the splicing is pretty easy.

[Brion Toss]

Hi all,
Nice discussion! Getting back to the original question, properly installed Sta-Loks are better than swages; they are reusable, inspectable, more likely to be corrosion-resistant, and you can invert the wire at its half-corrosion-life, extending total wire life (corrosion tends to concentrate at the bottom).
As noted above, one often sees swages aloft, Sta-Lok's alow, but this (a) precludes that half-life inversion, (b) is more expensive in the long run, as you can't reuse the swage, and (c) assumes that water can't wick uphill. Most often it seems that people take this path just so they can turn up the bottom ends in place, after stepping.
I recommend a serious look at Dynex. Properly scaled, creep is a non-issue. Chafe is easy to avoid. The covered version is basically immortal. At the very least, carry a piece as your spare.
At the moment we are preparing to do some destruction tests on all the major swageless terminals. Stand by for results.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[jfranta]

Originally Posted by stevewrye@gmail.com

Nicely said Robbie, The end user has to be confident in their rigging in the end. I can imagine when you use Dynex for the first time the first few months are a bit nerve racking until it is tested in a good blow.
What do the major offshore insurance companies say about Dynex? How does it work with furlers? I would think it would be hard to check for wear under the foils.

Hi Steve, Dynex Dux is certified for strength by Lloyds of London. We have provided certificates to several insurance companies now and this has been enough for them.

Extrusion style furlers still need a steel stay as the bearing surfaces are just to small for synthetic fibers.

We size Dux for a maximum of 0.1 inches of creep per year, 1 inch in 10 years, not too much different than steel, depending on the type. But, you will not notice any creep issues when it is sized correctly.

When you put some thought into it, Colligo Dux rigging is really safer than steel rigging as it is fully inspectable. The only failure modes are short term, chafe, and long term UV damage. Both of these failure modes produce highly visible signs as the fibers get real fluffy when they break down. Using it does put some amount of responsiblity in the hands of the user as it needs to be inspected regularly but it is much easier to inspect. Having a rig that is almost 5 years old now I take alot of comfort in knowing that I can see all that is going on with my rig. Also, since it is 2-5 times stronger than wire in the same application, I have a considerable window of opportunity to address any chafe issues before they become catastrophic.

Splices have been around much longer that swages or swageless fittings.

A recent customer of ours with a 60' performance cat (rotating mast) in the Carribean, sent an email explaining his 4 day upwind slog in 30 knots of headwind. Here is a quote "I sure am glad I have Colligo shrouds, ss dyform connections would have been scary."

John Franta, Colligo Marine.