I'm going to replace the standing rigging including the forestay turnbuckle this winter.
The easy option seems to be to buy the lot from BWYachts but importing from the USA will mean paying duty and VAT and the full amount is going to be around £400. Has anyone used a UK rigger to make up a full set and if so are you pleased with the result and /or the cost?
If so do you have anyone you would recommend?
The rigging is very standard stuff, any local rigger can do it at a fraction of the cost of importing. You just need to take the existing rigging off, and take it for them to use as a pattern.
If you use a marina, other boat owners will be able to recommend someone, otherwise it's down to Google!
The existing rigging is inch dimensions, so you will be replacing with the closest metric. I suggest uprating the forestay as it's the weakest point. The original is I think ⅛in. which is 3.2 mm. It's best to replace it with 4mm, but if you have a CDI furler check to make sure it will fit the central hole.
Anyone please correct me on those dimensions if I'm wrong, I'm going from memory!
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Hi, David,
Most Marinas have a rigger or access to a local one so try that first. The rigging is standard, not special to a Mac and a rigger should be well able to do that for you. I sold my Mac some years ago but I had a good rigger based in Heybridge on the river Blackwater in Essex.
Good Luck
Simon Armitage
Former Commodore and 10 year owner of an M.
Yes, I agree . No need to send to USA. I upgraded my forestay to 4ml which still fits the flexible furler that is used on most later Macs. Most marinas can recommend or there is a company that will do online orders but you would have to carefully measure . I would recommend changing the eye loop fitting at the mast head to a suaged fitting since the latter is less likely to fracture . The bracket that holds the barrel at the lower end of the forestay also fractured in winter storms so if there's any option to upgrade that also I would take it. Another forestay mod that I never did but I think would be great is to create a kind of caliper tensioner so that the rig could easily be released and tensioned even on the water. That could make shooting a bridge a practical option.
For recommendations , this year I used Rigit in Southampton. I was able to bring my boat up to their pontoon and have a complete new set of rigging within 24 hours ! They weren't the cheapest but fairly competitive.
I got all my rigging up graded by my local chandlers at a very reasonable price, also fitted turnbuckles to all my rigging. My forestay is now 5mm and shroud's 4mm.
David, is it for M or X?
I've got a spare complete set (upgraded diameter) for M. Ordered from BWY, but was unable to wait so local riggers made one. Eventually the US set arrived and I kept it as spare. Harmony is for sale, so spare is on offer as well.
Let me know if interested.
Thanks for your comments - very helpful. Thanks too Vlad for your offer but mine is an X unfortunately.
Just a bit more info for which I would be interested in your opinions. I have taken all the rigging off, washed and dried it and gone over each fitting with a fine tooth comb to check for any loose strands or obvious damage. Other than one or two (very) minor kinks the rigging seems to be in excellent condition and I cannot find anything loose around the nicopress fittings and no damaged strands. The set is about 12 years old and it is my intention to replace it because every forum thread I have read says it must be replaced every 10 years.
Given that my boat gets regular but generally light use, is not raced (tee hee - it's a Mac!) and is kept in a marina (so the rig is up all year and not subject to the stress of frequent raising and lowering) and there is no clause in my insurance policy telling me to, I wonder whether replacing it is actually necessary. I'll do it anyway for peace of mind but do you all replace your rigging or might it last another 10 years quite happily?
Mac rigging is not subject to particularly high stresses, so I see no reason why you shouldn't expect it to last longer than the nominal 10 years.
My X was 10 yrs old when I bought it, I kept it for 6 and it still had the original rigging in good condition. I had dropped the mast for towing many times over that period as well.
On my 19, I ended up changing all the rigging due to a) shrouds got damaged, b) reconfiguration of the backstay, c) forestay uprated to 4mm to fit a roller furler. Otherwise the original stuff would probably have still been fine.
The forestay is by far the most critical, it's definitely worth replacing with 4mm, the rest could probably go on for years.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
I'm pretty sure my 2005 M still has the original wire rigging and it looks fine, though I have changed to bottle screws making it far easier to get the right tension and rake of mast. That said I think it is time I should replace the wires especially as I have the correct equippment to make my own.
Jonathan
The forestay on my 2005 M frayed near where it was attached to the mast in about 2000. The rest of the rigging was still fine when I sold her. Without teaching your Gran how to suck eggs best to check the rigging every time you lower the mast. Sorry, I can't remember the cost but it didn't frighten me. All I had to do was detach it and then re-attach the new one.
God Luck
Simon
Just an update on this. I contacted 6 UK riggers including local and national. All were useless. Suggestions included modifying the method of attachment since they felt the existing arrangement was a bit light, reducing the nicopress fittings to one (instead of two) to save cost, unable to quote unless they can see the rigged boat in person, and one who was away for a bit and "can you wait until end of February for a quote?"
None could provide a quote for like for like. The guide prices they gave, including an online price from Jimmy Green came out very similar or more expensive than BWYachts.
In the end I bought from BWYachts in the USA. Ordered on Saturday and it was here by Thursday. Superb service. $56.00 carriage but no duty or VAT to pay. What's more I know it is exactly right for this boat.
It's a pity the business went abroad but it was inevitable after such a poor response from the UK.
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