Research and Development
We are currently developing an exciting new product to replace traditional standing rigging.
Fibre rigging (SK75 standing rigging) offers a durable, efficient and lightweight alternative to stainless steel rigging wire. This product is undergoing load testing with a range of fittings being trialled.
Below an extract from a recent yachting press article
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The inertia felt when trying to convince an owner to convert from wire rope and swage fitting standing rigging must echo down the ages. I warrant that, during the mid 1800s, the hard men of the fishing fleets in the North Sea displayed a similar resistance to change when a hopeful and progressive chandler tried to fob them off with the new-fangled wrought-iron wire rigging to replace their tried and trusted hempen shrouds.
It was in 1849, 11 years after the introduction of wire standing rigging on the Royal Navy's ships, and already 19 years after the adoption of wire rope for the deep mining operations in Germany, when Alphonse Karr espoused " Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose". He could have had no idea that 160 years later his words would be apt to describe another 180 degree shift in the course of rigging technology.
The most difficult customers to persuade to part with their hard-earned cash are commercial fishermen. They can see through a fraud at 50 paces and can shrivel hopeful but naive salesman's hopes with a few chosen words.
The fact that this industry has clasped Dynex/Spectra/dyneema/HMPE/High modulus (choose your own nomenclature) fibre rope to it's bosom should be proof enough that the modern incarnation of fibre rigging does indeed "Do what it says on the tin".
It is lighter than 1X19 s.s wire rope, it is stronger, size for size, it is resistant to U/V and chafe and along with the Lloyds certification endorsement of the material, offers a reliable, direct replacement for an existing rod or wire rigging gang. The end terminations have been extensively tested and modified over the last few years with on-going developments promising further versatility and adaptability in the future.
A selection of tensioning devices are available, ranging from the humble lanyard, through CNC machines deadeyes, through to solid thimbles adapted to standard toggle and jaw rigging screws. When sized correctly stretch is the same or less than the equivalent Dyform and due to our latest developments in splicing and pre-tensioning, the mythical "creep" (which was really just constructional stretch in the early incarnations of the material) has been banished.
We have retrofitted this material to, at the last count, 15 vessels ranging from a 24 foot harbour racer to an 80 foot ocean cruising catamaran via a 1934 s&s classic sloop and an ice yacht.
In the beginning, and with the lessons learned from the introduction of Kevlar in the early seventies, I was extremely cautious with both the specification and the execution of all the rigging we were asked to do. I went over the raw material with a fine-tooth comb and spent endless hours testing my splices, pre stressing and trying to quantify the aforementioned "creep". At the same time, the manufacturers were working hard as well with the result that, the improvement in the raw material as well as the developments in braiding, heat setting and coating, most, if not all of our early misgivings and concerns are now irrelevant.
The material is reliable and consistent. Our termination methods are well tried and proven. The properties of tension members made from this fibre are consistently performing above and beyond our expectation.
Toughness in exemplary, lightness is exceptional, U/V resistance and chafe tolerance is good and the cost is only about 20 percent more than an equivalent Dyform rig. You may have to slightly modify the existing mast fittings on a modern rig, but that is a small price to pay for the advantages.
The system seems tailor made for a classic, drop-over-eye type of gaff rig. The eyes are inherently soft and are very kind to the timber spars.
Joe Henderson
Henderson Rigging in Sydney
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Expect more news soon.
