Bay Raider Rigging

[retired2sail]

I have a BR17 which I keep on a mooring during the summer.  I have had the boat since 2011 and have never replaced the shroud lashings or the jib boom strop.  All are cord/rope and are as delivered by Swallow Boats. Needless to say, if any of these fail, I lose the mast (and probably the fore deck as well!!).  Can anyone give me some guidance on how often I should replace these?  Also, what is the best type of rope to use for UV resistance and strength? 

Thinking a bit differently, does anyone have experience of using wire strop for the jib boom strop or rigging screws for the shrouds?  If so, what type/spec should I be looking for?

[Graham W]

Hi Chris,

As it's not expensive, replacing string every couple of years is probably advisable.  If you don't splice it yourself, Jimmy Green or Swallow Boats can make up a replacement endless loop to the correct length out of 8mm three-strand polyester for securing your jib boom.  My spare cost less than £10 back in 2011.  The shroud lashings are 3mm 8-plait polyester, which costs about 60p a metre.  Buff versions of both types of string are readily available online from Classic Marine http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/boatstore/prodtype.asp?strParents=0,76&CAT_ID=173&numRecordPosition=1

Instead of the standard twisted shackle, some of us use jaw-jaw swivels like this to secure our jib boom endless loops to our boats https://www.s3i.co.uk/swivel-jaw-jaw.php  I've never heard of anyone using wire strops on their jib boom - I should think that this would make it more resistant to swapping sides in a tack.  If you do use a jaw-jaw swivel, which is longer than a twisted shackle, the endless loop for the jib boom will need to be made a bit shorter than standard.

I think that those of us (including me) who have experimented with different and more complex ways of securing our shrouds have reverted to simple polyester lashings in the end.  There was the case of a Drascombe Coaster a couple of years ago that tried a fairly complex arrangement of adjustable shroud strops incorporating upper and lower blocks that gave multiple purchase.  Unfortunately the hardware on one side failed, the boat turned turtle and the crew had to be rescued by the RNLI.  I had a shroud fail a few years back because one of my shackle pins came undone, not because the lashing parted. Rigging screws also have a habit of unscrewing themselves, especially if the boat is bouncing around on the back of a trailer. I use screws to keep my plank bowsprit bobstays under tension but will probably revert to good old polyester lashings this season.  I've tried Dyneema for shroud lashings but now prefer polyester, which has a bit more give in it.  On the whole, I have more faith in my standard bits of string (despite exposure to Greek UV) than in any stainless hardware.

[Peter Cockerton]

Chris

If you change to bottle screws on the shrouds you will probably have to shorten the wires to accommodate the length of the screws. My preference is screws, I purchased a type which meets a load test spec and has locking pins to prevent the threaded portion self adjusting.

As Graham has pointed out stay with the soft shackle on the jib boom but perhaps have a secondary very slack wire strop as a backup if concerned on this point of failure.

Take note of the double loop method of the soft shackle and order the exact diameter of the replacement this has an impact on the club boom aft end catching the foredeck.

Matt has always said that he deliberately keeps the tabernacle fixing screws short to prevent foredeck damage should a mast failure happen.

[Graham W]

Here's an old thread to help promote rigging paranoia! http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,391.0.html

[retired2sail]

Many thanks for your help!  I think I'll stick with the standard lashings and soft (rope) shackle.  Interestingly, I have had problems with the tabernacle lifting from the deck.  After some pondering and measuring, I found that this was due to the dimension from the trunion on the (carbon) mast to the mast end being very slightly too long.  So when I raised or lowered the mast the hinge bolt was pushed to the top of the slots in the tabernacle and it forced the tabernacle upwards off the deck.  I sorted it all out with Matt's help.  I trimmed the end of the mast, straightened the tabernacle, drilled out the mounting holes and extended the slots in the tabernacle slightly.  I drilled out and plugged the screw holes in the deck where the screws had pulled and reattached the tabernacle with slightly larger screws, which I epoxied in at Matts suggestion.  All is well now and I had no problems at all last season.  Matt talked me out of bolting the tabernacle to the deck!

[Graham W]

There's a series of exchanges on loose tabernacles (including one from Matt) from this posting onwards http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,957.msg6159.html#msg6159