Mast maintenance/repairs

[allweather]

Found two issues with my rigging I‘d like to hear people‘s opinion on before I get a rigger(that I still need to contact and have no knowledge of reputation/skill off) to take a look at and see what needs to be done. 

Jib sheet was attached via metal shackle for some time(before me) which did beat the hell out of the mast but those spots have pretty much stayed like that for all the years(at least a decade) since I went with a soft shackle. 

Should I be concerned and is there anything to be done about those?

I am worried about this spot that is radiating cracks. Not sure when it appeared and first saw it a few months ago but forgot to note it down(shame on me). I do not believe that it has been growing but need to check on pictures. (Going to keep an eye on it in the meantime)

What kind of repair needs to be done on that one or is it fucked?

Last thing item on the list is corrosion creeping up from the terminals of the stays. I am not sure if it is just superficial.(or how to judge that) We do have some trouble with that since the boat is ducked in an industrial port where there is recycling metal regularly loaded that creates a lot of rust dust. 

As far as I know appearing rust is a death sentence for standing rigging? They are old and if it needs to be replaced they kept up the mast long enough. New ones aren‘t too expensive in this weight class either at around 700€ but I wouldn‘t want to waste it either. 

 

[See Level]

I wouldn't worry about the mast dings, their cosmetic, but it looks like it's time for new rigging, this time with the correct clevis pin size. 

Is that a crack?

 

[allweather]

Crap. I don‘t have a magnifying glass right now, but it sure looks like a transversal crack running a third of the way around. 

Already talking with the supplier for replacements. May take longer though on account of my mast being old and using backing plates that the new boats have changed so the stays he has on stock may not fit.(which I could have within the day)

The corrosion is something I spotted on a check and thought to fix once I‘m back home. The crack could maybe explain why I heard „knocking“ from the mast yesterday when beating to windward. (Couldn‘t figure it out while sailing)

Good to hear that the dings are no concern, but what about the one where cracks are radiating out from?

 

[allweather]

A closeup of the likely crack. Sure doesn‘t look nice. 

 

[slug zitski]

Found two issues with my rigging I‘d like to hear people‘s opinion on before I get a rigger(that I still need to contact and have no knowledge of reputation/skill off) to take a look at and see what needs to be done. 

Jib sheet was attached via metal shackle for some time(before me) which did beat the hell out of the mast but those spots have pretty much stayed like that for all the years(at least a decade) since I went with a soft shackle. 

Should I be concerned and is there anything to be done about those?

I am worried about this spot that is radiating cracks. Not sure when it appeared and first saw it a few months ago but forgot to note it down(shame on me). I do not believe that it has been growing but need to check on pictures. (Going to keep an eye on it in the meantime)

What kind of repair needs to be done on that one or is it fucked?

Last thing item on the list is corrosion creeping up from the terminals of the stays. I am not sure if it is just superficial.(or how to judge that) We do have some trouble with that since the boat is ducked in an industrial port where there is recycling metal regularly loaded that creates a lot of rust dust. 

As far as I know appearing rust is a death sentence for standing rigging? They are old and if it needs to be replaced they kept up the mast long enough. New ones aren‘t too expensive in this weight class either at around 700€ but I wouldn‘t want to waste it either. 

View attachment 451827

View attachment 451828

View attachment 451829

Crevice corrosion 

stainless doesn’t last forever 

clean it up … have a as rigger inspect all fittings 

chances are it time for replacement 

 

[allweather]

Rigger(that I got locally) agreed on the transversal crack in the terminal. Replacements are in the works, a temporary fix has been applied to secure the mast.(wire clamped on to the shroud and lashed down. Enough to hopefully save the mast if the terminal fails until home and replacements arrive, not for winning races)

Didn‘t have a comment on the mast... so going to find another specialist for that. 

 

[See Level]

That's a pretty weird place for stress fracturing to occur.

Maybe sand it a little and see what it looks like under the grime and oxidation.

Might be someone broke of a tap trying to mount something.

Looks kinda like a bullet hole exit :blink:

 

[seaker]

That's a pretty weird place for stress fracturing to occur.

Maybe sand it a little and see what it looks like under the grime and oxidation.

Might be someone broke of a tap trying to mount something.

Looks kinda like a bullet hole exit :blink:

When I first saw it I wondered if a screw was broken there and it was causing the cracking.  You might be able to drill a hole that covers all the cracking. 

 

[Diamond Jim]

At first, I thought it was a tick.

 

[El Borracho]

Hard anodizing will crack like that. 

 

[Monkey]

That rigging scares me far more than the mast dings. The good news is that if the rigging fails, you’ll end up with a new ding free mast as well!

 

[slug zitski]

That's a pretty weird place for stress fracturing to occur.

Maybe sand it a little and see what it looks like under the grime and oxidation.

Might be someone broke of a tap trying to mount something.

Looks kinda like a bullet hole exit :blink:

View attachment 452190

Don’t know whats going on with that defect 

it looks cosmetic to me 

Structural stress fractures on aluminum spars generally occur at rigging terminations , spreader roots , mastheads, mast partners  and goosenecks 

it’s  stress cracks in these areas that need pro attention 

 

[allweather]

Structural stress fractures on aluminum spars generally occur at rigging terminations , spreader roots , mastheads, mast partners  and goosenecks 

And all of those are good. Replaced them over the last two years as parts went bad.

Boat is berthed right now and I haven‘t gotten around to cleaning up the small cracks. No news on that front. 

I did compare pictures from early this year and now and at least superficially it has bot grown. Technically small enough to drill out and put in a rivet, probably eight or ten millimeter. 

New standing rigging... is a work in progress. Want to get it right(read the actually correct t-terminals and lengths. H-boats here mostly sail without spanner in the forestay. Fixed length instead. Which is a little less in trimm options but what all the guides are for and what I found sufficient for my purposes. Little cleaner and nice looking though.)

I‘m also looking to upgrade to racing QRT spanners. Expensive little things though!

Oh, question since I am redoing things already. Right now I have a low friction ring mounted with a soft shackle to the shroud attachment point for outward sheeting position of the jib and barberhauler for the spinnaker sheets. 

Past dinghies I had came with eye bolts instead of normal ones on the lower end of the spanner. Any reason why this could not be done on a 1.5t keel boat?

 

[slug zitski]

Don’t know your boat

Should be ok if you setting up an outboard leed on the chainplate 

 

[ROADKILL666]

When in doubt change it out.Sure it’s money but it’s well spent and cheaper than a new rig.

 

[allweather]

cheaper than a new rig.

Let me check my insurance... Joking, the ruined paintjob would be horrible all on its own. Nevermind the situation I'd find myself in if it happened.

Good that everyone agrees that I should have replaced it already. In retrospect I do regret not having bought spares during winter where fitting would have been far less of a hassle. Hindsight and learning process.

Should be ok if you setting up an outboard leed on the chainplate 

I'm not quite clear what you mean here?(also going to ask the rigger/supplier about if the gear could handle it like that since I have no true understanding of if the sideload would do anything. Guess would say not so considering the shrouds have far, far more tension than the barberhauler could develop)

Anyway, I am talking about a H-boat where the outhaul and barberhaul are run up to the shrouds and I want to replace the clevis pin of the spanner that attaches it to the chainplates. I'll see about making a pic when I'm at the boat for curiousity's sake.

 

[slug zitski]

Rigging is not designed to be laterally loaded 

the leeward rigging is slack ,making any lateral load even more troublesome 

a D shackle fabricated as a chainplate Clevis pin has been used successfully as a high load dead end 

 

[allweather]

a D shackle fabricated as a chainplate Clevis pin has been used successfully as a high load dead end 

Do you happen to have a picture of that? I think I understand what you mean, but better be sure.
Thanks for the advice up to now.

 

[allweather]

Been some time. While installing the new standing rigging I noticed that my forestay was a little longer than intended. Not a big issue, I think, as it is within the margin I wanted and I got rid of the turnbuckle in turn.

But in combination with what the rigger mentioned about swages elongating had me look for data about that. See if I can figure out how much was myself taking inaccurate measurements(why I gave myself a margin of error) and what came down to said elongation while swaging the fitting?
I couldn't really find tables for that and subsequently if I should make any adjustments when measuring out any standing rigging in the future.

In the meantime cleaned up the ding with the cracks and compared to older pictures. Cracks didn't get any bigger. So I concluded to leave it at that while keeping an eye on it.

While I was going over my entire rigging I wondered if there is any reason why I can't remove two screws from my spreaders since they aren't in use anymore? Any concerns about just leaving the holes open?