DE32 dinghy storage on deck Cruising Corner Forums

Good eyes about the synthetic rigging (dynex dux).  I will post a review with many pics when it is finally done! In a few months I hope!  Yeah I know, it has been about a year now since I had it installed.  It was similar price to wire including labor.  The rigger charged $65/hr and did all the work, he is certified to install it by Colligo, the manufacturer. The big question is, now that my staysail stay is synthetic, what will happen with the chafe.  The forestay is still wire (that is the part that is not yet finished) and needs replacing with new wire and a new furler (Harken Mark IV, which has a two-track rod).  Currently the furler is the old style cruising furler type which uses the forestay wire itself to spool up the genoa, no rod, only hanks, which works well for dropping the mast, unlike rod. (But I have never dropped the mast either, and the rigger was not inclined to try it.)

About the only comment I will make right now about it, is that it is nice to the touch – soft and smooth – so grabbing it while walking the deck is nicer than the wire.  Kind of like rod rigging, which is also nicer to grab, than wire rigging.  As far as issues, without really sailing with it, I can't say, other than, there were problems installing the synthetic stays with the correct lengths.. so my mast currently is tensioned in a bit of an "S" until the new furler is on, at least.

I also changed out my lifelines for synthetic myself (spectra amsteel blue 1/4"), a fun project and I like it much better than the plastic coated wire, so I would encourage anyone to do at least this with synthetic.  Look on Beth Leonard's web site (I don't have a link handy) for a good write up on how to do it with proper strength calculations.