TECHNICAL COMPOSITE RIGGING

It’s no longer a simple choice between steel wire or rod for standing rigging. Even middle-of-the-road cruising boats can and do benefit from upgrading to synthetic cables

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Like the shift from wooden spars to alloy spars after the Second World War, we are moving to carbon spars and composite rigging for cruising boats,’ says well-known surveyor Kim Skov-Nielsen. ‘We are living on the cusp of a major shift to all-composite rigs.’

Four broad options run from ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (HMPE) to aramid, PBO (polybenzoxazole) and finally full carbon.

Compared to steel, they all offer much lighter weight, which makes for less pitching and rolling in a sea. Greater rig stiffness improves sail trim and transfers forces more efficiently – particularly in lighter winds. And synthetic fibres resist the invisible fatigue that undoes stainless steel systems.

On the other hand, the cost can be two to four times that of wire rigging, and repairs are tricky outside major sailing centres. Some of the fibres degrade rapidly with exposure to UV or moisture, so damage to the sheathing will shorten the lifespan of the stay. Carbon in particular is also susceptible to impacts from the side.

Every sailor will weigh up the options differently, but here are your choices: For comparison, the current cost of rigging a Dehler 38 with standard 1x19 wire or Nitronic rod, would be an estimated £2,280 for wire and around £5,000 for rod.

HMPE (DYNEEMA/ SPECTRA)

Dyneema and Spectra has extraordinary tenacity and a very low weight, but many riggers are wary of using it on cruisers because they consider it too elastic.