Standing Rigging

[crieders]

After 18 years I took the mast down. The rigger said the standing rigging looked fine to him but I thought maybe this was the time to replace it. Whats the approx cost and whats the best place to buy. I have a Catalina 34 tall rig, 1990, hull 1022. Thanks

[Jon Schneider]

Cliff, it sounds like you've got a fairly honest rigger at your disposal; you might want to get a price from him.  You should also check out JSI (newjsi.com).  You can actually price out the rigging on their site (or they'll give you an estimate).  It'll be about $800-$900, but you do the installation.  You can also get estimates from Defender, Rig-Rite, and West Marine, but I suspect they'll be pricier than JSI. 

[Ken Juul]

When I did may standing rigging last spring, Catalina was the cheapest.  Call  Chris in parts.

[Rick Johnson]

Just got a quote back from JSI.  $1,200 - $1,400...  Maybe next year.

[Steve McGill]

Rick,

The price quote you received from JSI, was this from your measurements or did they required
you old rigging to duplicate?

Thanks,

Steve

[crieders]

I thought about Catalina right away. No idea whom they use. I thought at the same time, I could go with the Garhauer turnbuckle stainless covers. The orig. equipment is 18 years old and supposedly  does not need replacement. One option is to forget about it and check in 5 years. Why kick a sleeping dog ? .........

[Ron Hill]

Cliff : When that sleeping dog wakes, the bite really hurts !!!!   
Why not wait for 30 years and really press your luck!!   

With all that said, I changed all of my standing rigging out + a new roller furler system at 18 years - even though it all looked great worked fine!  Unless you die check/Xray the rigging you really don't know if there is a potential failure point - even then a sewage could fail.  It's more piece of mind, based on experience of failures in the past.       

[Jon Schneider]

Ron, that's a good point, but where is the data to verify that 15 years (the commonly-held period for rigging replacement) is actually the right timespan?  Do we, as an industry, really know when rigging fails?  Does it have an extremely higher likelihood of failing after 20 years, and almost certain failure at 25 years?  Or is this just a bosun's mate's tale?  I ask, because I have the same vintage C34 as Cliff and am facing the same question this year.  A local rigger gave me the same advice as Cliff was given upon casual visual inspection of my rigging.

[Ken Juul]

I dug out my receipt last night.  Rigging pin to pin from Catalina which includes new turnbuckles and the new stainless covers was $1100 plus shipping.  They did require that I send the old rigging ensure correct sizing.  My local boatyard use the WM rigging service, informal estimate was $14-1600 for materials.

[Steve Sayian]

I would think twice about using the stainless covers.  They trap moisture and junk.
I just took my mast down this fall.  3 of the turnbuckles were so hard to turn, that they bent.  The threads were all full of junk.  The mast had not been down since the boat was originally commissioned in 1999 by the first owner.
When I put the mast up in the spring, I'm not using the covers.

[Stu Jackson]

I agree with Steve.  We have open turnbuckles and I haven't even taped them over, just carefully bent the cotter pins down so they don't snag the jibsheets.  More air is better, plus easier to clean with fresh water after a rousing (saltwater) sail.

[crieders]

Ron what furling system did you get? Did you get a larger size drum than the replacement?

[Paul Blumenfeld]

Cliff,

I did my 1987 boat two years ago.  Since I'm close I just drove my old rigging to Catalina. The next week I picked up new wire with swage fittings for $580.  This year I did the lifelines.

Paul