Use for old rigging

[seaesta]

Having read previous posts I decided to change my beautiful stainless steel standing rigging - 37 years of service seems to be a little over the top in the light of comments that insurers will wriggle after 10 years!
The question is what to do with the old stuff - 5mm s/s and turnbuckles- anyone got any good ideas?
Martin

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[snowleopard]

just the job for guardrails wher it won't be stressed enough to break. only need to cut to length and fit a swage eye on one end.

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[Johnjo]

Used my old stainless rigging to replace the guard wires which was plastic covered
galvanised wire,
Which was just as well, The plastic was cracked and worn where it passed through the stanchion,
The galvanised wire was in very poor condition in these places in fact almost rusted through.
Would never have stood up to any weight been placed on it!
Cut the stainless to the correct lenght and finished with Norseman Terminals.

mike
















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[nordic_ranger]

Useful for feeding down your mast when it's off and lying horizontal on tressles if you need to pull through mousing lines.

Jim

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[Avocet]

Made an "astroglide" in the garden for the kids out of my old forestay...

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[Gunfleet]

I've got the same problem. I think my garden is about to get the world's poshest vine frame!

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[Johnjo]

Used the old forestay as a clothes line,
SWMBO was delighted with it, no more problems with it snapping!

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[charles_reed]

5mm is pretty light so you're limited as to what you can do with it.

As it's usually the swages or the area just near them which work-hardens just get rid of the swages.
Your turnbuckles, if bronze, can be crack-tested and re-utilised on new threaded ends. If they're stainless ditch them.

Cut off the old swages and use for replacement guard rails.
ORC regs specifically forbid plastic-covered ones now.

Some use them as risers on the mooring instead of chain.

It's quite useful as a subsitute for rods when clearing drains.

One daft gardener used them to make a pergola for their rose garden - and very effective it turned out as well.

Someone else I know used his caps to make a suspension bridge across the stream at the bottom of his garden.

The last two are pretty specialised but, whatever you do don't use it as your new/replacement jackstays.

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[qsiv]

ORC only prohibit NEW plastic lifelines - existing ones are (certainly were last year) OK.

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[seaesta]

Thanks for all your ideas. not sure about the "astoglide" for the kids - after all if its not good enough for the mast will it take kids abusing it - and the thought of failure in this application is terrible. High class wash line and "drain rod" seem good options.
Cheerrs Martin

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[charles_reed]

Blind eye by scrutineer.

I wouldn't bank on it - the terms are quite categorical - if you have plastic covered lifelines your boat doesn't comply.

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[qsiv]

With respect - I think not

I quote from the current regulations

3.14.6 Lifeline minimum diameters, required materials, specifications

a) Lifelines shall be stranded stainless steel wire of minimum diameter in table 8 below.

Lifelines installed from 1/99 shall be uncoated and used without close-fitting sleeving.

So - lifelines installed before 1/99 can be plastic covered, which correlates precisely with the clarification that I sought from the ORC. I believe last years scrutineering for a 400 mile offshore Cat 3 race was quite thorough - certainly included checking that scatter cushions had the boats sail number on!

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[dickhicks]

Used all my old ones in the garden as very posh wires for the rasberry canes - oh and poking blockages out of the vacuum flexible hose.

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[Gordonmc]

I attached mine to a series of rawlbolts high on the garage walls making a horizontal trellis. Chuck all sorts of kit up there: sailbags, spreaders, battens. Better than shelves because the air can circulate and you can see where everything is.

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[richardandtracy]

Things to do with old rigging:-

1) Take down.
2) Inspect 100% with dye penetrant where possible & magnifyer elsewhere.
3) If no problems, change insurer & re-rig with existing. Otherwise cry bitterly into the wind about the expense & throw all old rigging into water near some stinky's prop...

Regards

Richard


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[charles_reed]

Curiouser and curiouser

Apropos my earlier post:-

This morning the downstairs loo blocked, and all I'could find were 5mm intermediates which were too thin to move the blockage.

I remembered that Claude from Martinique walked off with the last set of caps I replaced.

I really can't understand why there is this BIG THING about changing standing rigging.

Bought direct from mast manufacturers (not from Middlemen) it costs less than 1 years' insurance premium.

If you've ever had a gravity storm you'll consider that a very small price to pay - just for the lack of tribulation and a wasted season.

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[Joe_Cole]

I've used one length as a security system on my inflatable. One end padlocked onto the outboard and its mounting pad, feed the wire through the various handholds along one of the tubes, them out through the front handhold. Padlock the free end to a cleat on the pontoon.

I don't know how effective it is, and I've only bothered to use it on a few occasions when I've been worried about security. At least the tender has always been there when I've got back.

Joe

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