Due Diligence: Inspecting your sail rigging can save you money and keep you safe
By Jim Newell


Most sailors are aware of the importance of their rigging when it comes to safety, but can you say you have had your rigging inspected in the last year? In the last two years? In the last five years? Do you de-mast every season as part of this process?

Well, let me tell you a story: This spring I was asked to inspect
the standing rigging on a 44-foot cruising sailboat as part of
a preventative maintenance program. As it turns out, it was a
timely decision. The boat has 1 X 19 stainless steel rigging, which
is the most common of rigs in recreational sailing. Stainless
steel suffers from an almost invisible weakness called “crevice
corrosion.” Generally, if you see a corrosion-based defect in
stainless steel, it is too late — or at least it is time — to address the issue. After polishing the fittings on this particular rig, I gave it a thorough visual inspection. Good thing, too. I discovered three lower stud fittings with small cracks at the top of the fittings. This is fairly common in a rig that has been exposed to our climate changes and not de-masted regularly. As water accumulates on
top of the stud the water will slowly migrate down the strands
of wire. As the weather cycles through mild and freezing temperatures, there is a tendency to crack these fittings where the
water has expanded as it froze. The small cracks were not visible
with the normal amount of oxidation that occurs around our salt-water environment. With a concentrated effort to clean and
inspect for the purpose of troubleshooting, you can circumvent the potential dangers associated with rig failure.

So my customer, although not happy to hear about the defects,
was more than OK with a few hundred dollars, toward the safety of
his family. He now sails the boat with the confidence the rigging
will hold when the winds pipe up. Because of the potential for hidden gremlins lurking in our stainless steel, many of us have adopted a maintenance program of replacing one or two shrouds a year. This helps to offset the cost of a complete rig replacement and offers you the peace of mind that one of the many safety concerns on your boat has been addressed.

This same due diligence should be extended to your life
lines. They too are made of stainless steel wire and fittings. The
potential for disaster here is the everyday reliance we have on our
life lines and the fact that they are often coated in a PVC cover.
This cover can deteriorate over time and allow for corrosion to
occur, almost unnoticed, as oxygen and salt water work together to destroy the stainless wire. They are called life lines; let’s treat
them with the appropriate due diligence.

Fair winds.

Jim Newell works with Lifeline Marine Services in Halifax, NS. You can contact him at 902-476-1759 or at info@lifelinemarine.ca