stainless steel and thimbles

[Ian McColgin]

One cannot predict the failure moment of a compromised bit of rigging. The bend is not the whole story - there may be some corrosion; depending on how the bend was inflicted it may have compromised the molecular structure; and depending on exactly how the forces straighening it out work out, the molecular structure could reach a breaking point or not. One guy around here ran into a dock and put a quite noticable bend in one stud of his jibstay turnbuckle. That was about ten years ago. Still sailing happily and his approach to sail trim is so casual that any loss of pointing ability is hidden by general sloppiness. On the contrary, one of my seven dismastings was due to the sudden failure of a turnbuckle with a bent stud, a bend so subtle that when I'd pointed it out to the owner and suggested we change it, he opted to try for just one more year . . .

So fix it. Or not but no whining if the risk turns to reality.

G'luck