What length to make new shrouds?

[Essington]

I am replacing the standing rigging on my Columbia 24.
The other times I've replaced rigging I just sent the rig plan to the rigging shop, and a couple weeks later I received the new gang in the mail.
Well this time I'm replacing the stainless rig with Dyneema (STS-HSR). I'm curious how long to create the stays? My turnbuckles have about 4" of throw (full extension to fully closed).
I'm pre-tensioning the splices so I don't expect much in the way of constructional stretch.

Do I splice the stays to match the turnbuckles at 3/4 extension? Full extension? Is there some standard used for stainless stays?

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
If you choose the right diameter, use HSR or Colligo's rope, and pretension accurately, as per John Franta's excellent protocol, then I would go for 3/4" extension. This will give you enough takeup length for many years of incremental creep.
Have some extra toggles or lashing material handy when you step; the rope tends to shrink up on the way to the boat, and you might likely have to work the constructional set out before you can remove the extra bits.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Essington]

Thanks Brion,

3/4 extension appears to be just right. I started by building the inners since those would give me the least amount of scrap material if I messed up. and the technique I used managed to get the two shrouds within 1/16" of each other, and very close to my target length. I think I ended up 3/8" short of my intended length even after pre-tensioning the splices on the bench, but upon installation and tuning, I am very happy with where the turnbuckles are sitting. They have quite a bit of take up left.



Brion, your oak handle marlingspike works brilliantly for creating the Brummels. The taper allows the line to be opened up just enough to pass the bitter end through, or wide enough to pass the eye through.



With the inners installed and tuned, The turnbuckles are at a comfortable 2/3 extension.

I hope to be able to take the mast down this weekend to build and replace the rest of the stays.

[Essington]

The weather this weekend was conducive to lowering the mast and rebuilding the remaining pieces of rigging.

So I hauled my rigging bench up to the lake and set to work measuring and splicing.


The end product looks fantastic on the boat.



Now to see how it holds up over years of use!

Also, while building the remaining stays I found out why the finished length on my inners appeared shorter than expected. Turns out that the the splice even after pretensioning on the bench does recoil slightly when the tension is removed. Once installed they were the perfect length, and I didn't need to rethink my technique for the remaining splices.

BTW, Books, tools, bronze eyes, and Delrin spreader ends for this project all came from various businesses right there in Port Townsend! What a fantastic community.

[akajack]

that's a nice looking rigging bench. any more pics of that? is it portable?

rick

[Essington]

Originally Posted by akajack

that's a nice looking rigging bench. any more pics of that?

It is just a cheap Harbor Freight 4 drawer workbench which I mounted a Pony vice in one corner and a Barient two speed winch in the opposite corner.
The Pony vise is used for whatever you would use a bench vise for. It is also handy for holding a splicing wand.
I use the 2 speed winch to pre-tension knots on soft shackles as well as pre-tensioning splices.
The bench itself is not exactly what you might call structural, so I suspect it won't survive too many years of the type of abuse I am subjecting it to.
But, it does allow me to work at a comfortable height.

Originally Posted by akajack

is it portable?

That depends ... If you consider requiring 2 men and a full size pickup truck portable, then sure, it is portable.

[Brion Toss]

That was a lovely series of pictures. I am glad that it all came out so well!
Fair leads,
Brion Toss