Rigging Costs

[stearman65]

The surveyor has said both the standing & running rigging need replacing. The boat is a 28ft sloop with a split backstay & a block & tackle kicker. Has anyone got recent prices for a similar sized boat?

 

[KevinV]

Can't help on the rigging costs, but that's a cracking boat for real life weather up there - they've packed a lot in to 28 foot, and it manages to look handsome with a doghouse - a rare feat.

 

[Tranona]

Yes. Stays with new rigging screws (6mm at a guess, but might be 5) approx £1500 last year for DIY. You can get a rough idea from the Jimmy Green website. Typical rigger labour is £50 an hour and basic taking off, checking furling gear and dressing the mast ready for stepping is 6-8 hours. Running rigging more difficult because of the choices of ropes and whether you want splices or not. I buy offcuts from Marine Scene and use halyard knots which is roughly half the price of made to measure spliced ropes.

 

[stearman65]

Can't help on the rigging costs, but that's a cracking boat for real life weather up there - they've packed a lot in to 28 foot, and it manages to look handsome with a doghouse - a rare feat.

Thanks KevinV
It's very similar to the LM27, but has an aft cabin & conventional shaft drive.

 

[Crinan12]

In terms of standing rigging i am getting mine done this winter on a 30ft seamaster 925
7 6mm wires including the bottle screws cost £1200 supplied and fitted and includes tuning the rig when mast stepped
I was going to diy but I'm not sure I'd have saved a huge amount of money doing it myself

 

[stearman65]

In terms of standing rigging i am getting mine done this winter on a 30ft seamaster 925
7 6mm wires including the bottle screws cost £1200 supplied and fitted and includes tuning the rig when mast stepped
I was going to diy but I'm not sure I'd have saved a huge amount of money doing it myself

Hi Crinan 12.
Sounds reasonable, what part of the country is the rigger?

 

[Kelpie]

I've only ever done it DIY, mostly because of lack of access to a rigger.
Easiest option, if you can drop the mast, is to send away the old stuff to Z-Spars. They'll make up new stays and send the whole lot back to you.
You'll need to use a swageless fitting for the forestay, they're fiddly but not especially difficult to make up.

If you can't drop the mast, you can measure the stays in-situ and then add ~50cm to each one. Get them made up with one swaged end and with a swageless fitting for the other. Then drop the stays singly or in pairs and make up your replacements. Use halyards to support the mast while you do this.

The second approach has higher materials costs but it's useful if you don't have access to a crane.

My prices may not be very helpful but just for reference:
-2010, 27ft boat, 5mm, new stays swaged both ends, new bottlescrews, £450.
-2021, 39ft boat, 8mm, swaged one end, swageless on the other, £1300

 

[stearman65]

and then add ~50cm to each one.

Hi Kelpie do you mean MM?

 

[geem]

I rerigged my mizzen mast in 2021 whilst i had the madt off. I used Jimmy Green as the supplier. I used 6mm stalok swageless fitting throughout. It cost me just over £1000.
I have just rejigged my main mast in 1/2" wire with the mast up. Again, I used stalok swageless for everything except the top of the forestay as the stalok fitting is too chunky to fit inside the foil section.
If you are handy, doing yourself with the mast up isn't hard but it takes time. It is far quicker to do with the mast down but you need to add in the cost of crane and labour to remove and reinstate

 

[Kelpie]

Hi Kelpie do you mean MM?

Nope, I wasn't that confident. It's not easy to measure a stay accurately with a tape measure flapping in the wind. Wire is cheap, so it's a form of insurance to spend an extra £10 getting the stays made comfortably longer than you need.

 

[geem]

Nope, I wasn't that confident. It's not easy to measure a stay accurately with a tape measure flapping in the wind. Wire is cheap, so it's a form of insurance to spend an extra £10 getting the stays made comfortably longer than you need.

I added about a foot then the rigging shop added a bit more for free

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Two years ago, re-rigging my Moody 31 by a professional rigger cost £1610. That included a few of the kind of job that only shows up when the mast is down - my halliard deflector was nearly worn through!

 

[Crinan12]

Hi Crinan 12.
Sounds reasonable, what part of the country is the rigger?

Near oban, West coast of scotland

 

[William_H]

Firstly running rigging is a lot different to standing rigging. It is usually obvious if halyards need to be changed. Do it yourself just purchase aprox length of replacement rope and sew the end of new to old and pull it through. Sheets of course no problem. Even if running rigging fails it is not a disaster.
However standing rigging ie stainless steel wire can fail without warning and usually results in loss of mast and expensive repairs. Wire seems to be reliable only for 15 years. (some say 10 years) However the asociated hardware is usually much more reliable. Turnscrews etc perhaps good for 30 years .
Cheapest way to replace wires on your new boat is to get up the mast and remove the shrouds one at a time and send away the old stay for a replacement. Use a halyard or similar to maintain supportm of mast without the stay.
IMHO cap shroud and intermediate shrouds are the critical stays. Depending on arrangement on your boat forestay failure might not have mast coming down. In my case with hank on jibs the jib luff takes forestay load when sailing. Similarly ona mast head rig back stay is critical but on my boat back stay has failed with no real problems. ol'will

 

[stearman65]

The last time I went up a mast was in 2001 in Corsica when I replaced the VHF cable & installed a TV antenna on our Moody 40 CC.

I'm now 83 & won't be climbing anywhere other than on & off the boat. Consequently, paying to have the work done is my only option. The picture is one I took from the top of the mast in Calvi harbour. Carlo an Italian guy from a motor cruiser next door, used the Lofrans Tigres to get me up there. During the job, I had my tools in a bucket & managed to drop my battery drill, it just missed my wife & it bounced into the water. Our stories are on Youtube see-
Corsica to the Costas
And
Homeward Bound

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Two years ago, re-rigging my Moody 31 by a professional rigger cost £1610. That included a few of the kind of job that only shows up when the mast is down - my halliard deflector was nearly worn through!

I should have said, this is standing rigging only. I wouldn't consider paying someone to do running rigging.

 

[BobPrell]

this sort of discussion is what makes more appealing, a yacht with junk or freedom rig or whatever, with NO standing rigging.

When insurance gets involved, we have less and less choice about what rigging is deemed "adequate".