Dart 15 Forums

Simon wrote:

Does anyone have any top tips on how to get a good idea as to the 'health' of the various shrouds holding the mast up? Kinks & fraying are pretty obvious I guess but are there any others? (e.g. is just 'age' an issue because of many cycles of stretching/relaxing?)

It's seems that one of these failing is pretty catastrophic which might not be too much of a problem on a reservoir but on the open sea is perhaps rather more serious. [It's not much of a problem on holiday when there's a rescue boat ready to bring you back in either which I saw happen just last week on a dart-16]

If there are members out there who have been sailing when a shroud has failed and you can share any 'post-mortem' information I'd be grateful.

Kind Regards,

Simon.

Dartful Codger 3 replied:

Hi Simon
Things to look for - in no particular order :-
1 Look all along the length of the shrouds / forestay for uneven twisting, which may suggest excessive bending/stress or early warning of impending failure in that area .
2 Perhaps more importantly , look at the ends of the wires where they go round the eye and into the brass ferrule. this is usually the place where they fail most. Ensure all strands go into the ferrule - if just one has come out or is missing/broken, there is then less pressure holding the remaining strands in, which quickly becomes an accelerating state of deterioration .
3 Look for signs of corrosion, again more likely at the ends where different metals are touching the wire .
4 A common weak point is the short strop at the top of the forestay, which facilitates furling of the jib. If furled under too much load, this part can often untwist itself, leading to early failure.
A spare set of rigging will only cost around ?35 - a good idea to have for emergencies.
As with a car, regular checking/inspection is always recommended to stay ahead of the game, so to speak, but if you don't race, the rigging should be good for many years, so don't have too many nightmares over it !
Hope that helps.
Cheers Paul Smith 1961 (Beaver S.C.)

Simon replied:

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the tips - Looking at the (brass?) ferrules there's a slight tinge of green corrosion but nothing major.

My Dart is of a vintage (#55) where self-furling of jibs was probably as revolutionary an idea as people being able to survive going at speeds faster than a horse and carriage was when they invented the steam engine!

At ?35 I think I might do as you suggest and get a new set - is that from the rigging outfit listed on the suppliers site?

Kind Regards,

Simon.

Dartful Codger 3 replied:

Hi Simon
Sorry - they are copper not brass, but don't worry about the colour. If they are crimped properly, and all the strands are intact, then you can conclude they are fairly sound.
I recently bought a new set from Spencer Rigging, based on the Isle of Wight. They are very reasonably priced, and Spencer are well known for supplying rigging for many dinghies and yachts, and do a quick turn round. also they supply the wire with plastic coating which gives added protection, and of course is kinder to the sail when fully out, and prevents marking of the cloth.
I can personally recommend them and yes, all details can be found on our web-site.
Regards Paul

Steve Willis replied:

It is also worth checking the pins and keep rings regularly. They can both wear and allow the mast to come down. I have had to recover four Dart15,18 and Shearwater cats over the last 18 months while on Safety Boat duty and two were 'fixing' failures rather than shrouds.

Found this old thread with info on shrouds,had one snap on me today,less than a year old so i hadnt checked it.It went at bottom of top copper clamp.This boat has had lots of use in big winds and seas but is this unusual for shroud to fail so early?Made it to shore thanks to on shore wind but had a long walk through the rocks to get back to gurnard.

Corr that is a blast from the past.
Yes, 1 year is very short, but when I was sailing every weekend 18-months to 2 years was pretty common to have to replace them. The first sign of failure is always a broken strand next to the copper ferrule at the top of the shroud by the hounds. As I used to travel to many events per year I would always inspect the shrouds when the mast was down - and I would always replace both shrouds as soon as one strand was broken in either shroud. If you do that you seldom get caught out. The forestay strop is something else (much more unreliable). I gave up using Spencer Rigging for shrouds after they increased their prices so much.

You will be interest to hear that new boats (and spares from Windsport) come with 4mm plastic coated wire shrouds (same material as used by the Dart 18 ) rather than 3mm wire. Collins wanted to do this to use the same material on the 15 and the 18, but it transpired that some sailors who cruise long distances in their Sprint 15s use 4mm for more safety as the 3mm fails so frequently. We adapted the rules to allow this. The strop is also 4mm wire.
Cheers
Bob
PS Are you coming to Instow at the end of the Month?

Thanks for advice,i have already ordered from spencers but i would definitely have gone for the 4mm if i knew.Went round island solo last year and would'nt fancy the mast dropping of back of island.Price seemed ok was £28 a pair re-using white boots.Would like to come down to nationals need to work on the other half and see about re-assembling boat,it took plenty of packing and twisting to get the hulls pointing in a similar direction and its not been apart since.

Hi, A good and simple test is to bend the wire slightly where it comes out of the copper, and if one of the strands breaks away replace.
Most failures take place at the hound fitting rather than the shoud plate, some people top and tail their shrouds after a season to exstend the life.
Shrouds with White plastic covering are good because the oil in the wire, does not come off on your sails!!
Windsport carries all the different SP15 wires at the correct lengths as specified by the class when when we did the wire review during the boat moving to South Africa for manufacture.
Brian Windsport.