One of any sailor’s worst nightmares is a dismasting. Injury, hull damage, even sinking can be the consequences if the standing rigging or a spar fails under sail. The unique set of factors that make our sport so unique also contrive to create systems under immense load, in an unpredictable environment, so it is no surprise that much of the sailor’s mindset is occupied with mitigation of risk.
While the well maintained and safely sailed rig is a source of infinite propulsion, the uncared for rig is something that is, at best, limited in its performance and likely to subject the crew to great risk.
Boat owners are encouraged to maintain a routine of inspecting their rig between professional checks. This is primarily visual, looking for signs of damage to the spars and standing rigging. While the expert eye of a rigger or surveyor is the “gold standard,” awareness of early signs of wear is something that every sailor should consider.
Spotting rig wear at an early stage can and having it professionally inspected will be a leap forward in terms of safety and performance.
TIPS:
Prevention is so much better than cure when it comes to a mast under load and the consequences are not worth risking.
We would encourage boat owners to use the winter period as a time to do more than just bottom paint. Use this period as an opportunity to ensure that your rig is in perfect working order. At the very least this will make sure that sail hoisting, reefing, sail changes and trimming are as efficient as possible.
This isn’t just the preserve of yacht racing fleets. Cruising sailors will benefit just as much from smooth systems.
For the long term cruisers, passagemakers and explorers, we would recommend factoring in time for professional rig inspections when in hubs of marine trades. It simply isn’t worth waiting for something to go wrong.
Every boat owner should be aware of the schedule in place with their insurer for the rig and adhere to this closely, bearing in mind that any material changes to the rig will constitute a change of risk, meaning that the insurer should be notified.
Most marine insurers will now insist on a Level 2 rig inspection (this does not involve unstepping the mast) as a condition of policy as well as further periodical inspections as well as set timeframes for a full unstepped inspection or the entire system, laid horizontally on land.
A professional surveyor or rigger will undertake a full visual inspection of the mast and boom and all fittings as well as inspecting standing and running rigging for deterioration. They will be looking for signs of material damage or corrosion.
Particular attention will be given to where hardware is installed into the mast tube as water ingress and galvanic corrosion can cause irreversible damage to an aluminum mast.
Beyond a visual inspection your rigger or surveyor may recommend technical inspection. Using professional tools and trained eyes to uncover unseen areas of damage and fatigue. Visual inspection alone can be misleading or fail to reveal the severity of internal damage. This is known as NDT or Non-Destructive Testing and can include:
Dye Penetrant Testing (DPT), also known as a Magnaflux test. DPT is used to display fractures in metal so they are visible to the human eye. This is particularly critical for rod rigging, where visual inspection is insufficient to identify invisible damage.
Ultrasonic Testing: This is the most widely used technique for inspecting monolithic carbon fibre composite materials. It detects defects like voids and delamination which can be compared to your initial baseline scans for reassurance.
Disassembly and Thoroughness: A full technical inspection requires the removal of the rig from the vessel in most cases to properly conduct a detailed review of all fittings and terminal points. This allows for close inspection of areas like spreader roots, mast terminals, and halyard sheaves.
Find one you trust, ask for recommendations locally, at the sailing club or in the marina. Get references if you can. Look for the busy companies and take a peek into their van or toolbox, is it clean and tidy? This will tell you a lot about their approach.
Offshore Spars often works with riggers on delivery of projects and we have been fortunate to work with some of the best. Here are some of our recommendations:
West Coast:
San Diego Boatworks | San Diego, California
New England:
Rigging Projects has a base in Newport, RI. Specialists in Big Boat racing and Superyachts.
Mid Atlantic:
The Rigging Co | Annapolis, MD
Caribbean:
The Rigging Co. | St Thomas, USVI
Northern Europe:
Rigging Projects | Southampton, UK and Zaandam, NL
Mediterranean:
Gabier N Rigs | Antibes, France
Velamania has bases across Italy and satellite offices in the south of France and Valencia, Spain.
Superyacht specialists:
Marine Results has a base in Palma, Mallorca and a Southampton based traveling team with global reach.
Offshore Spars is a specialist manufacturer of carbon fiber masts, booms and poles, based in Chesterfield, Michigan. We have a full in-house team of riggers and machinists and offer full spar refit services to clients who wish to transport their rig to us. We work with all major hardware manufacturers and welcome the opportunity to discuss your rig maintenance or a replacement rig for your yacht.
