New Lifelines (Guard Rails)

[daverebbettes]

Need to change my plastic coated guard rails to 5mm 1x19 uncoated. My thinking is to DIY it with a swageless fork at one end, a swageless eye at the other and then simply take up the slack with some line that can easily be cut free if required.

Any other suggestions? Any good value suppliers that you can recommend?

 

[awol]

Stanley knife blade along the coated ones?

 

[daverebbettes]

Stanley knife blade along the coated ones?

Thanks AWOL, have checked the wire and it is getting rusty enough to make a change. Been on there for 15 years now.

 

[sarabande]

Use pelican hooks. Quicker to release; don't need unravelling with cold fingers or slicing with a knife. Quickly re-tensioned.

 

[Bobc]

Might be cheaper and easier to get them made by Jimmy Green Marine.

 

[daverebbettes]

Anyone tried Dyneema? Would cost about £200 but an interesting option.

 

[awol]

Anyone tried Dyneema? Would cost about £200 but an interesting option.

OSR 3.14 covers lifelines and prescribes stranded stainless steel wire. References to Dyneema etc. have been deleted.
You may not be going ocean racing but the OSR rules are a good place to get safety details.

 

[GHA]

Anyone tried Dyneema? Would cost about £200 but an interesting option.

Yes. Very successful. Can only speak for Marlow d12 max which is exceptionally chafe resistant, much nicer one the hands and easier to hang the washing on. I used 5mm. 3800kg max breaking load, sk99.
Not cheap but you save on staging.

 

[GHA]

OSR 3.14 covers lifelines and prescribes stranded stainless steel wire. References to Dyneema etc. have been deleted.
You may not be going ocean racing but the OSR rules are a good place to get safety details.

From memory that was based on 1 incident a while ago and there was no reference to the different types of dyneema with anti chafe /uv coatings available.

 

[Pete7]

Changed mine with the help of Force 4 the chandlers at Deacons Boatyard. They do an on line kit but just popped in and they made it up on the spot. I just cut it to length once on board.

Pete

 

[colind3782]

I priced up the materials for DIY and it was North of £400. The local rigger quoted €350. Simples.

 

[neil1967]

I also found the Force 4 riggers very helpful - I did use the kit and it was very simple.

 

[Arcady]

Might be cheaper and easier to get them made by Jimmy Green Marine.

+1. Jimmy Green made a set for me last year. First class service at very reasonable cost.

 

[jwilson]

A few years ago I cut off plastic coating and was unhappy about state of wire underneath. Considered dyneema or parafil and S/S wire with self-fit terminals, in the end it was cheaper to get local rigger to make up new in uncoated S/S wire. About £220 for 2 wires on each side on 10M boat.

 

[rgarside]

Yes. Very successful. Can only speak for Marlow d12 max which is exceptionally chafe resistant, much nicer one the hands and easier to hang the washing on. I used 5mm. 3800kg max breaking load, sk99.
Not cheap but you save on staging.

I switched to 5mm Dyneema several seasons ago. Easy to splice up own lines, so cost less than s/s equivalent. Durability seems fine.

 

[Concerto]

I used S3i for my new lifelines.
https://www.s3i.co.uk/marine.php

 

[jordanbasset]

+2 for Jimmy Greens, very quick and reasonably priced.

 

[pvb]

My thinking is to DIY it with a swageless fork at one end, a swageless eye at the other and then simply take up the slack with some line that can easily be cut free if required.

Swageless fittings are a bit chunky and don't look too attractive on lifelines. I'd be tempted to measure carefully, and get both ends swaged professionally, but check first that you can pass the swaged stem through the stanchions.

 

[Jaguar 25]

Replaced mine a few years back using a swaged eye on one end of slightly oversized (in length) wire then adjusted the length to suit and used swageless pelican hooks on the other ends. Worked out well.

 

[Neeves]

OSR 3.14 covers lifelines and prescribes stranded stainless steel wire. References to Dyneema etc. have been deleted.
You may not be going ocean racing but the OSR rules are a good place to get safety details.

And GHA posts.

I think the incident was Comanche and they sawed through the lifelines with a spinnaker sheet.

We have used dyneema, Liros, now for many years and despite Comanche's incident would not change back - but we do not use spinnakers and none of our sheets rubs on the dyneema. Chafe at the stanchions is not evident at all, easy to instal and as GHA suggest, great for the laundry.

Jonathan