Rigging Work

Ron replaced the headstay yesterday. The job will not be completed until after parts arrive for the Profurl roller furler. On the way to Hawaii it threw out two of the three grub screws that had been replaced in New Zealand and held with "loctitie". These screws are what keep the extrusions from sliding up and down the wire. Unfortunately the threads for all three screws are either totally or partially stripped out, so Ron will have to drill three new holes (without drilling through the wire). Also, one of the two big black plastic fasteners that make connection to the plates holding the furler to the deck was missing. I will let these facts speak for my opinion of Profurl.

We then discussed the rest of Pachuca's rig. A close examination of the wires that broke at the top of the headstay do not show any corrosion. They indicate failure due to some sort of stress. This problem may have begun shortly after I got the new furler and I foolishly used a lot of force with a winch trying to turn the furler drum when in fact the top of the furler had been jammed by lines that I had clipped to the fitting for the inner forestay rather than on the mast where they should have been. Having said that, inspections immediately before my departure from Fremantle and in New Zealand did not reveal any problem up there.

Pachuca's rigger in Fremantle sent the following very useful information:

"I am sorry to hear about your rigging troubles.

All of your rigging has been replaced in October 2005. The wire was supplied by Ronstan. I believe they are buying it from Korea.

The Forestay has been replaced in August 2007. The wire is supplied by Arcus Australia. Made in Korea by KOS.- the best wire we can get in Australia.

The braking strands might be caused by bad articulation of the toggle; when forestay is pumping sideways. Please check the articulation but I believe it should be fine. Or the size of it. We have replaced it with the same size as the original, but should It be one size up from that for such a heavy boat.

Check the forestay / backstay tension. If the forestay is too loose, it move around too much causing fatigue of the component including the Profurl joiners.

It is also possible that the cause can by in the balance of the forward –aft stay balance. If the inner forestay is too tight it might ‘steal’ some tension of the forestay making it ‘wobbly’, and putting too much tension on inner forestay itself causing to brake.

I believe the rest of the rigging should be fine. As all quality components are used. But it is hard to decide from here.

The grab screws is a long going problem. At some stage Profurl have been manufacturing joiners with pre-drilled holes and screws with longer pointy front end.

Good luck and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions."


Given our observation and the information supplied by the original rigger I have no evidence to suggest that the rest of the rigging is faulty, so mercifully I am spared the expense of a complete re-rig.

This experience has made me more aware of rigging, its weak points, what to look for, and the need for regular inspection of every component of the rig.

The top photo shows the old headstay above and the new one below. The new one has eliminated the two extension plates that you can see in the old one. This has solved the problem of the binding halyard during a hoist. The two lower photos show the corrosion-free broken wires of the headstay.