mtb
New member
no mate I'm not a film star
I'll pm you as I might make you the pole for yours but need info
cheers
mick
I'll pm you as I might make you the pole for yours but need info
cheers
mick
Standing rigging on Centaur - last replaced in 1996
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
merlin3688
New member
New rigging without rigging screws approx £350, with a good quality rigging screw (Sta Lok) approx £500. Most boats were fitted with T terminals or eyes. Most were 6mm although I have seen some that had a 5mm babystay. Far easier to fit with the mast down!
ghostlymoron
Well-known member
Dylan, are you ashore or afloat? If afloat, there's a real danger that you'll snap one of the cheeks off the alloy deck step fitting, then you'll have a devil of a job getting a replacement.
Searush
New member
Jeez, a Centaur mast is no big deal to lower. I've done my Pentland a few times just me and my son. Incidentally srs rig is 41 years young this year.Failure is pretty rare and usually due to crevice corrosion in the deck ubolts or mast tang. Take some bulldog clamps and lanyards for an emergency repair at sea.
dylanwinter
Active member
BruceDanforth
Well-known member
BarryH
Active member
I used the Rigging Chap in Thornham marina. He replaced the forestay on mine, it did need doing, for very reasonable money. 60 quid if I remember rightly. From phonecall to fitting was about an hour. He does go to other yards etc. Nice chap and seems to know what he's doing. Shout if you need his number.
RadiumRob
Member
I replaced 18 year old rigging soon after I bought my boat. It was in good condition and probably could have lasted longer, but I figured I would have to replace it before I change the boat at some point in the future since few would want to buy a boat with say 28 year old rigging. If I was going to be in for the expense anyway I had just as well benefit from use of it.
wooslehunter
Active member
I've had my Centaur for 10yrs now & apart from the forestay, the wires are the ones on the boat when I bought it. They still look fine & the mast comes down every winter so I check every year.
What I have replaced is the stem head fitting plus the main & lower shroud chain plates. The stem head fitting was fabricated with quite thin plate & some of the weld had started to crack. Plus, the holes for the forestay pin where no longer round. The lower chain plates similarly had oval pin holes. I replaced the main attachments too because, like many Centaurs, the deck had started to deform upwards. You can easily check that with a steel rule on the deck. I had longer bolts fitted & put a wooden block under the deck.
If your boat is one of the older ones with larger windows, then the lower chain plates will be over the front saloon windows. This can cause the coach roof to distort. Mine's older & so I added stainless tiebars from the chain plates to a point under the window. Westerly changed the design on newer boats & the windows are smaller so there's solid moulding from the plates to the deck.
What I have replaced is the stem head fitting plus the main & lower shroud chain plates. The stem head fitting was fabricated with quite thin plate & some of the weld had started to crack. Plus, the holes for the forestay pin where no longer round. The lower chain plates similarly had oval pin holes. I replaced the main attachments too because, like many Centaurs, the deck had started to deform upwards. You can easily check that with a steel rule on the deck. I had longer bolts fitted & put a wooden block under the deck.
If your boat is one of the older ones with larger windows, then the lower chain plates will be over the front saloon windows. This can cause the coach roof to distort. Mine's older & so I added stainless tiebars from the chain plates to a point under the window. Westerly changed the design on newer boats & the windows are smaller so there's solid moulding from the plates to the deck.
Iliade
Well-known member
S'funny, everyone seems to have replaced or had trouble wi't forestay. Maybe the rigger was right after all ;0)
Seajet
...
Dylan,
first of all check your insurance; some insist on new standing rigging every 10 years.
I agree with others in saying the forestay is the most important, especially as it's hidden in the foil; if it's extra hassle and a right PITA it probably means it's required in my experience !
Also agree re using the bloke at Thornham Marina, all the people there are top notch and good value.
If taking the wires to be replicated, Seateach at Emsworth can do this, but as with any work anywhere when time and money are tight, watch them like a hawk and check...
If it were me setting off for Cape Wrath, insurers aside I'd replace the forestay and cap shrouds.
first of all check your insurance; some insist on new standing rigging every 10 years.
I agree with others in saying the forestay is the most important, especially as it's hidden in the foil; if it's extra hassle and a right PITA it probably means it's required in my experience !
Also agree re using the bloke at Thornham Marina, all the people there are top notch and good value.
If taking the wires to be replicated, Seateach at Emsworth can do this, but as with any work anywhere when time and money are tight, watch them like a hawk and check...
If it were me setting off for Cape Wrath, insurers aside I'd replace the forestay and cap shrouds.
UncleAlbert
Member
Like others have mentioned fore stay is the one to check out. I had a cruising chute halyard wrap which unwound the wire at the top of my Colnebrook furling. Glad I changed it for peace of mind even though the sail is hoisted on another wire so I have a bit of belt and braces!! (I hope) . Now I just worry about the lower fitting which gets a close inspection annually.
Uricanejack
Well-known member
As far as I know my right is from 1984. Had it surveyed. It's okay.
My previous boat was vintage 76 with vintage rig sailed on her ear many a time. Wire rigging I checked my self and found no apparent flaws.
Check. Rather than replace. Inspect for cracks in swages and broken strands.
If you are taking the mast down any way it shouldn't. Be to hard.
You can try dies to look for cracks in turnbukles tangs ect but if it's not obvious to a visually you are probably. Ok for the kind of sailing you intend.
Or for piece of mind have a rigger survey. Itvwill cost a few pennies and considering boats value its just to ease your concerns.
Mid 90s not so long ago.
My previous boat was vintage 76 with vintage rig sailed on her ear many a time. Wire rigging I checked my self and found no apparent flaws.
Check. Rather than replace. Inspect for cracks in swages and broken strands.
If you are taking the mast down any way it shouldn't. Be to hard.
You can try dies to look for cracks in turnbukles tangs ect but if it's not obvious to a visually you are probably. Ok for the kind of sailing you intend.
Or for piece of mind have a rigger survey. Itvwill cost a few pennies and considering boats value its just to ease your concerns.
Mid 90s not so long ago.
Seajet
...
Stainless steel is a wonderful material, but one of the nasty things about stainless wire is that problems are not visible until it suddenly goes; for this reason some blue water sailors use galvanised mild steel rigging, it's nowhere near as good but oncoming failures are obvious if one checks.
For my boats' keel lifting wire one should use mild steel as it's much better at tight radii around the pulleys, and the odd sharp strand is natures' way of telling one to replace it.
As this wire is next to the loo and one can guarantee SWMBO gets the sharp strand first, the system even has a shrill audio warning !
For my boats' keel lifting wire one should use mild steel as it's much better at tight radii around the pulleys, and the odd sharp strand is natures' way of telling one to replace it.
As this wire is next to the loo and one can guarantee SWMBO gets the sharp strand first, the system even has a shrill audio warning !
tigr
Member
Or try Dyneema? English braid reps reckons it's the best thing around. I'm sure if you make a film of it they may come down and put some on for the publicity...
Or have a drum in the spares box, complete with splicing instructions.
Just an idea
Or have a drum in the spares box, complete with splicing instructions.
Just an idea
Seajet
...
Dyneema may be trendy in some racing circles or for those too lazy to work out rigging lengths for bottlescrews, but show me how resistant it is to general abrasion - say against a rough wall - let alone when subjected to a yobbo's knife - and yes I have been in situations like that more than once...
jollyboy
Member
If I were going to sail round the north of Scotland, I would want to be sure that my rigging was secure. I would get it professionally checked.
John B
Vagrant1718
John B
Vagrant1718
langstonelayabout
Well-known member
When I bought Egret (Dylan; you'll remember this boat...) her mast was in two, very broken, pieces. The old standing rigging was inside her cabin and one of the lower shrouds was missing the 'T' fitting from the top.
Turned out that the previous owner was racing in the RTI under spinnaker just SE of the needles when the mast came down. A friend who was also racing his E-Boat mentioned that lots of shouting and hassle had ensued as a number of boats almost drove into Egret's transom. A slow and ignominious tow back to the Beaulieau river ensued.
I decide to learn the lesson from his bad experience and have ended up replacing plenty of standing rigging; but still have a mast stood standing to show for it!
Turned out that the previous owner was racing in the RTI under spinnaker just SE of the needles when the mast came down. A friend who was also racing his E-Boat mentioned that lots of shouting and hassle had ensued as a number of boats almost drove into Egret's transom. A slow and ignominious tow back to the Beaulieau river ensued.
I decide to learn the lesson from his bad experience and have ended up replacing plenty of standing rigging; but still have a mast stood standing to show for it!
dylanwinter
Active member
rigger problem
ask me if you need a pro or an amateur to write some copy or make a film and I will give you the obvious answer
the problem with asking a rigger is that his opinion will be -"replace the lot - give me the work"
it is a bit like asking a chimney sweep if the chimney needs sweeping
if I were to replace all the bits on a boat that has been suggested
from the radio to the keel joints then the journey would not happen
I shall drop the mast - to replace the bulbs anyway and then have a good butchers
I replaced the bent rigging screws of Katie L with Dyneema bindings
and there is a cat near me on the pontoons that has dyneema stays
but the fore-stays are wire - I guess because of the roller reefing
D
ask me if you need a pro or an amateur to write some copy or make a film and I will give you the obvious answer
the problem with asking a rigger is that his opinion will be -"replace the lot - give me the work"
it is a bit like asking a chimney sweep if the chimney needs sweeping
if I were to replace all the bits on a boat that has been suggested
from the radio to the keel joints then the journey would not happen
I shall drop the mast - to replace the bulbs anyway and then have a good butchers
I replaced the bent rigging screws of Katie L with Dyneema bindings
and there is a cat near me on the pontoons that has dyneema stays
but the fore-stays are wire - I guess because of the roller reefing
D
Seajet
...
I once knew an utter git with a 26' boat he'd completed at home on a shoestring budget; the mast was an incredible thing with such thin weak walls one could grab it - fully rigged - and shake it side to side a good foot or more even that low down.
His answer was to deliberately set off across the Channel in a Force 7 and got dismasted, the plan all along; apart from ending up being rescued from the surf off the French coast and risking the life of his crew it worked well and the insurers paid for a proper mast, which he bragged about.
This unseamanlike lout is one of the reasons our premiums are as high as they are...
As a postscript rest assured he is no longer afloat, after several more accidents and serious collisions he had to sell the long suffering boat !
His answer was to deliberately set off across the Channel in a Force 7 and got dismasted, the plan all along; apart from ending up being rescued from the surf off the French coast and risking the life of his crew it worked well and the insurers paid for a proper mast, which he bragged about.
This unseamanlike lout is one of the reasons our premiums are as high as they are...
As a postscript rest assured he is no longer afloat, after several more accidents and serious collisions he had to sell the long suffering boat !
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