The discussion then turned to emergency inner forestays, with Robin stating the points of connection

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Here we expand on his presentation, tapping into the vast knowledge of over 40 years of sailing, 30 years of working on yachts and 6 Atlantic crossings (3 crossing as part of the ARC) to give you an overview of rigging cruise america motorhome rental sales on offshore cruising yachts.
Robin started cruise america motorhome rental sales his presentation identifying which wire rigging types are generally found on cruising yachts. The image below shows the two main forms of wire rigging found on the majority of cruising yachts, both made from stainless steel wire.
The standard being 1 19 – where 19 individual strands cruise america motorhome rental sales of wire are rotated to form an individual cable which gives a strong, low stretch wire for rigging. This is the industry standard for yachts and is found worldwide.
The other is Dyform, which is again 19 individual wires but its strands are drawn through a shaped die before being wound together. This means it has less stretch, due to the tight layup, but also has less dynamic stretch cruise america motorhome rental sales due to a greater cross sectional area of material for a given diameter, giving 30% less stretch for the same diameter of standard 1 19, meaning you can reduce the diameter needed for rigging and reduce the weight aloft. These advantages do come at an extra cost of around 50% over standard 1 19 wire.
A swage fitting is added to the wire with a swaging tool, drawing cruise america motorhome rental sales the wire end through a machine and permanently cruise america motorhome rental sales attaching the fitting to the wire. The swage fittings take on 3 main forms as seen in the image below, each with their own advantages and uses.
The Strap Toggle Swage are used in areas where articulation is needed in both directions, normally used at the bottom of the V2/V3 spreader ends (2 nd and 3 rd set of vertical wire sections in mast).
The swageless fitting uses strands from the wire to wrap around a cone, the cone sits on the central core wire, the socket cruise america motorhome rental sales is then pulled done onto the cone where the end terminal is fitted and tighten completing the swageless terminal.
As the presentation was part of the World Cruising Club Bluewater Open Boat Weekend, the next part was focused towards information from surveys, reports and repairs. Robin was keen to focus on what you would get out of a survey when buying a yacht, as a surveyor would normally limit their inspection and comments to a deck level inspection, then inform the buyer to obtain expert advice cruise america motorhome rental sales if thought necessary.
Robin suggests that as a bare minimum you should have a rig report undertaken when buying a yacht. A rig report would give a full visual inspection of the standing rigging, spars and fittings and running cruise america motorhome rental sales rigging. This should be a written report detailing the size of wire, type of fittings, faults found and cautionary notes.
Dents in mast and booms can generally be repaired or reinforced with a doubler plate as seen on the boom section below. This is where the vang fitting joins the boom and a plate has been shaped and riveted in place around the compression, this will spread the load around the area.
The replacement of standing rigging doesn t always happen when there has been a failure or a fault has been found. Obviously failing or badly worn standing rigging would be replaced, but there are other factors in the replacement cycle of standing rigging.
It is the history cruise america motorhome rental sales of the yacht that dictates change – i.e. if you know the yacht has completed a circumnavigation in the past, it would be prudent to replace the standing rigging before heading across the ocean again.
If upgrading the mast or the rig is being reconfigured, different standing rigging due to the different loads is paramount; and the same applies if reconfiguring the spreaders or the mast position is being changed.
Most mast and rigging manufacturers would give their products a shelf life, meaning they would expect cruise america motorhome rental sales you to replace certain elements at certain stages of the life cycle, regardless if the yacht is used for the odd Sunday cruise or completed a circumnavigation. Berthon would always recommend an annual rig inspection and at minimum a rig check after a long crossing.
As the presentation was focused on cruisers that would be joining the ARC to cross the Atlantic, where the majority of crossing is downwind, Robin was keen to explore the adaptations that can be undertaken to the rig to make the crossing safer and sail handling cruise america motorhome rental sales easier.
There are a variety of set ups that will be seen when crossing the Atlantic, from a standard spinnaker set up, to a poled-out headsail, to a twin pole for twin headsail arrangement. Investigation would be needed as to whether the pole mounting on the mast would be sufficient or needed to be moved, also if there would need to be additional support for the poles in the form of guys and topping lifts.
Robin was keen to point out that storm sails and emergency forestays should be a priority on all cruising yachts, be easily fitted and not stowed in inaccessible places. The point was raised that if it was difficult to fit your trysail in a calm marina, imagine what it would be like trying to fit it in Stormforce conditions. An additional track on the mast could be a very viable solution here.
The discussion then turned to emergency inner forestays, with Robin stating cruise america motorhome rental sales the points of connection to strong points on the mast, the need for deck reinforcement where needed and a tensioning cruise america motorhome rental sales device for the forestay.
When on your long passage you should be completing a daily routine of checks (engine, fuel, oil, water and so on), and part of this should be a daily walk on deck checking for issues. Robin gave a check list of things to look for.
On a long passage you might be on one track/gybe for days on end, meaning that areas of your rig will not be under tension where fittings could work loose, ensure that you have your rig tuned properly before you leave and have a full post crossing rig check when you arrive.
The main part of the daily check is to notice signs of wear and chafe as soon as possible, but there are chafe prevention measures you can take before you leave the dock. The majority of people will have spreader patches added to the mainsail to reduce the wear on the sails when sailing downwind, or to jibs and genoas for upwind. The addition of leather or plastic covers over the spreaders cruise america motorhome rental sales and the spreader ends will also reduce cruise america motorhome rental sales wear on sails. There was even talk about Baggywrinkles (see below), an old type of chafe protection for large sailing yachts made from short pieces of yarn cut from old ropes,  connected around a central core to make this long, shaggy fringe that is used at point where sails come in contact with standing rigging.
This concluded the presentation for the World Cruising Club Bluewater Open Boat Weekend, we know that this just touches on the subject of rigging for offshore cruising, but Berthon is always happy to assist and answer further questions.