Rigging, strength and flexibility

[luddites]

Yes this was common practice, make up the top eyes in the workshop then cut the rigging to exact length on the job and finish lower ends with mechanical norseman or stalok. Ther is nothing wrong with talurits, you just have to use wire constructed to be flexilbe enough to render round the thimble.
What is important with a talurit is that both parts of the wire lie straight and parallel to each other with the bitter end clearly visible in the top of the talurit. If this is not the case the talurit will be tapered when pressed which obviously will promote failure.

 

[savageseadog]

What amazes me here is people are prepared to p*ss about with half baked less than satifactory solutions. Unless you do the job properly you, your boat and your passengers are at risk.
Get proper swages or swageless fittings plus decent bottle screws and toggles on the job.

 

[luddites]

hear hear, and get a second independent forestay alongside your roller reefing as well. (My personal hobby horse)

 

[Guest]

Could you justify singling out the forestay as a weak point on your hobby horse?

 

[luddites]

Most certainly:

1. Modern forestays are encased in the roller reefing gear and simply never get inspected.

2. Some roller gears if they jam will cause the top of the wire to unlay and once this has happened the wire will break sooner or later, 1x19 wire is not designed to do this.

3. Forestays break when under maximium load usually going fast to weather. When a mast goes by the board under any other circumstances the rig usually comes down quite slowly due to the parachute effect of the sails and away from the crew. If the forestay breaks going fast to weather the mast comes down PDQ onto the crew.

That's enough for me.