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DE32 Standing Rigging

The link below will download a invoice that Bill Amt got when he re-rigged Saffanah his DE32. He generously offered it to be posted in responce to my request for information on the rigging of the Different DE models.Thank you Bill for you kindness in letting me post this for everyone.

DE32 rigging invoice pdf

From Bill Amt,

Some time ago I saw a comment on the DE website asking for information for standing rigging on the DE 32.  I recently replaced all standing rigging and attached is a copy of the invoice giving both dimensions as well as prices for anyone looking to replace rigging.

As a side note, when I first purchased Saffanah, I had a marine survey completed before I bought the boat.  The surveyor noted all rigging appears to be in serviceable condition .  When I finally got Saffanah into a yard near my home this fall, I decided to un-step the mast to replace the spreaders rather than attempt to replace the spreaders on the stepped mast.  I then got a chance to inspect the rigging close up with the silly thought that I was likely wasting my money removing the mast.

What I found was very disturbing to say the least.  As I inspected individual tangs and connection points, I found many microscopic cracks in the stainless steel even tho there were no indications of rust. Two of the fittings were so badly weakened, after a little prodding with just my fingers, I broke them in half.  The gooseneck that holds the staysail to the inner forestay looked ok but was dull, so I decided to polish it a little.  As I was buffing, it began to bend and all of a sudden I could break the ¼ stock in half.  I took the various fittings to industrial weld inspection shop and had them evaluate the metals.  They noted that all the metal suffered from chlorine stress crack corrosion and were significantly weakened.

As a chemical engineer, I have installed a lot of 304 and 316 stainless steel pipe and have long been aware of chlorine stress crack corrosion it is induced not from simply a chemical corrosion action only but from a combination of consistent high stress and strain (flexing) along with an exposure to low concentrations of chlorine.  For some reason I did not fully equate the high level of stress on sailboat standing rigging to my industrial experience shame on me.  By the way 316 stainless steel is just as prone to stress crack corrosion as is 304 so do not think that 316 is much better than 304.

So I decided to remove all standing rigging, and using it as a pattern, had JSI in St Petersburg fabricate new rigging which I installed about two weeks ago.

While I was installing the new standing rigging, the coast guard was completing the rescue of a single hander who lost his mast off the coast of Jacksonville while on his way from Key West to Maine.   He had just bought the boat in the Keys and too had it surveyed before he left for Maine.  Because he was dismasted, 50 miles off shore with no VHF and his engine was not working, he was unable to contact any help for two days until a local fishing boat spotted him.  The boat was towed to the yard where  Saffanah lies, and looking at the head stay fitting on his boat that broke, its condition looked exactly like the old fitting that was on Saffanah.  It too was visibly in great condition, but very brittle from stress crack corrosion.   The sailors marine survey also noted the standing rigging appeared to be in serviceable condition

So the bottom line just because the stainless steel rigging looks good after 30 years, replace it anyway the cost is not that much in the scheme of things about $2100 cheaper than a new mast and the towing cost to get to port.

Bill Amt

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