YSC Blog Post

Standing Rigging

9 January, 2017

Standing rigging are the wires and lines that hold the masts and spars in place. These days they are nearly always made from stainless steel wires and secured in swaged fittings because they are are strong and relatively reliable. However most insurance companies give standing a rigging a service life - normally about 10 years. After this period the rigging is considered outside of its service life and therefore may well not be covered in the event of an insurance claim.

During a survey I will inspect the rigging as far as possible without the mast being lowered. This includes checking all the wires in the cable, the swages and bottle screws. Sometimes wires can become damaged such as the one in the image above and these are obvious to spot however, the danger often lies within the swage. This is because stainless steel is only stainless when its in the presence of oxygen which gives is the oxide layer on the surface that prevents corrosion. Inside a swage the oxygen can become depleted and so the stainless steel can now corrode, unseen and giving no warning. The insurance companies look at the data for rigging claims and know that after 10 years, claims increase so they take the obvious step of giving it a service life although this not normally written down anywhere. It is for this reason the rigging should be replaced every 10 years.